Great Dovetails

[Alan in Little Washington]

On my recent trip to the left coast I stopped in Dallas, TX for a visit with the folks at INCRA. The first afternoon I met Chris Taylor the head of INCRA and his staff, and was given a tour of their facility. On the second day I spent some time in the shop of Perry McDaniel, who Chris refers to as "Mr. All Things INCRA." The result is the three boxes shown below.

I had seen the INCRA stuff at woodworking shows, but other than their excellent miter gauges, I never had a chance to closely examine or use their fence systems. I read the reviews, but didn't quite understand about their precision. Well, let me tell you, the INCRA LS Positioner fences for tablesaws and router tables is really incredible! Not only do they give you incredible precision, they do it easily, quickly, and repeatably. That is a lot for someone like me who has little patience, but likes precision, to say. While the INCRA fences work as well or better than typical fences for standard tablesaw and router table functions, they really excel when it comes to precision joinery, including dovetails and box joints on case work, jewelry boxes, and other projects.

With some help from Perry, since I was an absolute INCRA newby, I made these three boxes. They illustrate just some of the dovetail joints possible using a router table, standard dovetail bit, and and INCRA fence system. I have a top of the line Leigh Dovetail Jig. Many of you have heard about its capabilities and excellent manual, but the INCRA system is equal to or may exceed the Leigh in both categories. Chris Taylor was one of the pioneers of the decorative nested dovetail shown in my third box (possibly "the pioneer," pre-dating Leigh). Anyway, here are the boxes:

 

[ptt49er]

Wow...that's an impressive statement to their systems. You had one day in a shop w/ a gentleman who knew how to use it and you produced those joints. Awesome! It looks like you had a good trip!

 

[CoolHandLuke]

wow, that's really nice.. I like the look of that nested dovetail

 

[PeteM]

Sounds like you had a fun trip !

I really like the INCRA stuff. I have the LS positioner on my table saw and their little router jig.

However, I just don't think any of the fancy variations come anywhere near the beauty of fine handcut DT's.

. . . just sayin'

pete

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Wow...that's an impressive statement to their systems. You had one day in a shop w/ a gentleman who knew how to use it and you produced those joints. Awesome! It looks like you had a good trip!

Actually, we started late, went out to Red, Hot, & Blue for lunch, and quit early! :wsmile:

 

[Ken Massingale]

Nice work Alan, especially for an afternoon of learning!
The double and double-double DT's are nice, but it took me a lot longer to get them right.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Nice work Alan, especially for an afternoon of learning!
The double and double-double DT's are nice, but it took me a lot longer to get them right.

Remember, I had a factory expert keeping me from doing stupid things. I think, like anything, once you learn, it is easier each time you do it. I was a amazed, though, with what incremental vs analog indexing can really do!

 

[Ken Massingale]

Remember, I had a factory expert keeping me from doing stupid things. I think, like anything, once you learn, it is easier each time you do it. I was a amazed, though, with what incremental vs analog indexing can really do!

Yep, the jig is amazing for sure.
I have to confess tho, I did speak to Perry a couple of times. Often I don't learn easily, I called to ask if someone could get me through a couple of brick walls I'd hit and was surprised that Perry came to the phone. He gave me all the time I needed, was patient with me and encouraged me to call again if needed. Which I did.
They are nice folks to deal with.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Yep, the jig is amazing for sure.
I have to confess tho, I did speak to Perry a couple of times. Often I don't learn easily, I called to ask if someone could get me through a couple of brick walls I'd hit and was surprised that Perry came to the phone. He gave me all the time I needed, was patient with me and encouraged me to call again if needed. Which I did.
They are nice folks to deal with.

Perry is an interesting guy. In addition to knowing all things INCRA, and a talented woodworker, he is a nationally recognized puzzle designer and builder. Some of his puzzles have sold for many hundreds of dollars! You can see some of his work in the gallery on the old INCRA site.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Beautiful for sure!

I have the LS 25 Super System, or something like that. I saw it at the demo 5 years ago when I got into woodworking and just "had" to have it. I've yet to ever make a double-double, or anything too fancy. It is nice, and very accurate, but I'm not even close to using the full capabilities.

I do hope Incra will make some more up-to-date books and videos though ... the ones on the market are old and not represented well (not using the redesigned jigs). I also find the little sliding right-angle fence thing to be a bit awkward and sloppy considering everything else is so precise (this is a place where their competition does it better from what I can tell)

You may have just inspired me to put mine to use again though ... and make something more than the basics.

 

[McRabbet]

I have a Jointech Cabinetmakers Fence system that is about ten years old and it does the same thing as the Incra system -- I've done lots of single dovetails and played with double ones, but never made a complete project -- it works very well, too (adjusts to .001").

 

[CrealBilly]

Perry is an interesting guy. In addition to knowing all things INCRA, and a talented woodworker, he is a nationally recognized puzzle designer and builder. Some of his puzzles have sold for many hundreds of dollars! You can see some of his work in the gallery on the old INCRA site.

Earl has met his match