Dove Tail Question

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
Dave, I stopped marking my tailboards long ago. Now I stack 2 side boards and cut at random! But I will mark the waste area on the pin boards. Too old now to remember which is to be left for a pin without a little help!
 

Dave Richards

Dave
Senior User
Joe, I mark one tailboard with the centers of the sockets if I want a certain pattern but otherwise eyeballing works fine for me, too. I don't mark out the pins at all.
 

Robert166

robert166
Corporate Member
What you guys think about this neat little jig?
6:1 Clear Urethane Katz-Moses Magnetic Dovetail Jig and 90 Degree Crosscut Guide
IMG_1713.jpg

Video on UTube that makes this look very easy to use when hand cutting dovetails, for us rookies.
 

Dave Richards

Dave
Senior User
Fancy. I imagine it would get to looking pretty rough in short order in my shop. I'd probably make one before I'd buy one but that's just me.
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
I’ll confess to buying a 24” Leigh jig used about 2 years ago and only first used it two months ago. I wouldn’t buy new because the used market is far more affordable and the jigs have minor differences over the years.

I had read horror stories about setting it up, but it really wasn’t that bad. I plane five pieces of lumber using the fifth as my practice/test piece and ended up with pretty close joints at the first setting. I readjusted and everything fit better. I’ve only done two projects with another planned (debating on using angled dovetails or straight cut).

I already had a router, so that was not factored into cost. I had to buy the Leigh bushing and router bits ($75 I think). The jig was $200 for an older jig that does not do the one pass blind dovetails but I can modify the fingers to get that capability (D4 and newer are already set up for this).

Someday I plan to make hand cut dovetails but I don’t have time to setup sharpening my hand saws and practicing sharpening and cutting like I see it requiring.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Consider a splined miter joint.
Hand cut dovetails are nice but the time it takes to get and keep those chisels super razor sharp is a factor. Another factor is a good saw. There are lots of bad ones out there with a crosscut configuration. That's wrong. When you're cutting dovetails, the saw needs to have a really good rip configuration to the teeth.

I've got one of those 24" PC Omni jigs but I've never used it. I thought I'd use it on wide panels like toy chests, etc, but when I glue up a panel that wide, it is rarely of the flatness I'll need. Besides, the jig I've got does the half blind type usually found on drawers. That might look OK, but maybe a little busy.

My 12" go-to 12" dovetail jig pictured below is one I got from the Sears store in the mid 1970s. I still use it to this day. On the bottom left of the photo is the end of my PC Omni jig that mostly sits there gathering dust. When I use my jig, I'll clamp the filler wood strip to the bench.

1  router jig - 1.jpg
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
What you guys think about this neat little jig?
6:1 Clear Urethane Katz-Moses Magnetic Dovetail Jig and 90 Degree Crosscut Guide View attachment 194008
Video on UTube that makes this look very easy to use when hand cutting dovetails, for us rookies.
This is a very nice guide. I use mine all the time. No need to draw and follow lines just hold the guide against the wood and cut. David Barron makes a similar guide that Highland sells. If have both and like the Katz the best. I have used mine for hundreds of dovetails and it still looks new. I use mine with a Japanese pull saw with 372 tooth pattern - very fast and accurate
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
This is a very nice guide. I use mine all the time. No need to draw and follow lines just hold the guide against the wood and cut. David Barron makes a similar guide that Highland sells. If have both and like the Katz the best. I have used mine for hundreds of dovetails and it still looks new. I use mine with a Japanese pull saw with 372 tooth pattern - very fast and accurate

Darn, something else I all the sudden have to have. :eek:
 

Kelly

Kelly
User
Keller jig....easiest one on the market.
Seems to be a forgotten gem, but I pulled mine out about 6 months ago after not using it for several years. Catch up time was about 10 minutes and I was cutting.
Like most jigs, it requires it's own bits, but they are reasonably priced.
Check it out on google.
 

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