Dovetail Jig Tips
Cutting dovetails on a router-based jig is certainly easier than cutting them by hand. Still, there's a little bit of a learning curve. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your jig.
(Mike Krivit)
Lubricate Surfaces
The easier it is for you to move
your
router across the jig, the better. If the router base gets hung up at
all the
router can rock, ruining the joint. A little lubricant goes a long way
toward
keeping everything going smoothly.
I routinely spritz the jig
template and
router base with a lubricant. Try it and you'll find that, by reducing
the
friction between the router and jig, it's suddenly easier to use the
jig.
Be
sure you're using a lubricant that's designed for these applications,
such as
Empire Manufacturing's Table Top Lubricant. Once it's dry, there's
nothing left
behind to migrate on to your wood and mess up your staining and
finishing.
Know The Score
You'll reduce the likelihood of
chipping
if, before cutting the full tails, you lightly score the face of the
vertical
tail board.
After your setup is complete, run the router left to
right
across the jig. Allow only the corner of the dovetail bit to contact the
face of
the material. This creates a slight shoulder. When the scoring cut is
complete,
cut the full dovetail.
Setting Bit Depth
The fussiest part of getting good
dovetails from a router-based jig is setting the dovetail bit to the
perfect
depth. When the bit is set too deep, the joint will be too tight. When
the bit
is set too shallow, the joint will be too loose. The mantra that's been
stuck in
my head for years is "Too tight-too deep. Too loose-too shallow." I even
wrote
it on the board the jig is mounted on.
Easier Setups
Once you've cut a perfectly fitting
dovetail you can create a shortcut to make setup lots easier next time.
Cut an
extra dovetail joint and save the tail board. Mark it so you know it's a
setup
board for your jig.
The next time you need to cut dovetails insert
the setup
board the same way you'd normally insert a tail board. Set the depth of
cut of
the router bit by allowing it to "kiss" the shoulder on the tail board.
This
makes setting the bit depth significantly easier, and if you're careful
you'll
be dialed in close on the first try, but you should still do a test cut
in scrap
before working on parts from your project.
