Dovetail advise?

[gator8686]

Just bought a PC 4212 dovetail jig.
Building a cigar humidor out of purple heart and maple.
Lumber is milled and ready to start dovetailin.
Any advise?

Bruce

 

[Gotcha6]

Be sure you have some scraps of equal dimension to test your setup.

 

[red]

Be sure you have some scraps of equal dimension to test your setup.

If you never used the jig before, practice on the scrap until you are very comfortable with it. Then go for it.

Red

 

[Mike K]

Practice, practice, and more practice. Make sure that you use backer boards to prevent tear out. Also once you get it dialed in just right, keep your setup boards for future reference...MK

 

[Canuck]

Hi Bruce.

I too have the PC 4212 and have found that each time I use it, I make sure that I have some scrap dimensioned EXACTLY (width and thickness) as the end product. (Remember. With this jig the stock widths MUST BE in 1 inch increments + ¼ otherwise you will end up with half tails – not as pretty!:no

It is really critical that all stock is absolutely square or you will never get a good fit.

Make sure that the jig template combs are nice and clean and a coat of Johnson's paste wax doesn't hurt either.

When placing your stock in the jig, after centering between the fingers of the template, I place a backer/spacer board (same stock thickness) beside both the horizontal(pin board) and vertical (tail board) pieces of stock to ensure that the template is tight to the stock and eliminate blow-out.

Because I don't have a dedicated dovetailing router (DT bit always installed and set), I generally start with the bit depth first. (That little depth gauge on the jig will get you started in setting the depth, but with mine, it just gets you close.) Make a pass and check the fit. Too tight? Decrease the depth. Too loose? Increase the depth.

You may also have to tweak the placement of the comb over the intersection of the two boards. Moving it towards you or away from you to get the pins and tails in alignment on the sides of the joint.

Most importantly. once you have it dialed in (either through or halfblind DT) with the scrap, leave it set up until you are finished with the project!

This past week, I spent the better half of about 2 hours tweaking the setup for some halfblind DT’s. I then managed to run all four drawers through the jig in about an hour. (I do work kinda slow.) (you can have a look at this past Saturday’s efforts at this link……http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f29/new-childs-dresser-wip-update-1-a-30364/#post302755

If you have any questions, feel free to post here or PM me. I am in Cary as well.

Good luck!

Wayne