Dovetails in MakerCrate Video

[lepton]

ShopBotTools recently posted the MakerCrate video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuh4rkmoaQw

I'm interested in the technique for cutting the dog-boned dovetails from flat stock using a straight cutting bit WITHOUT using any sort of right angle jig.

Cutting the tails with a straight bit, dog-boning the corners, is the easy part.

It appears that the slope of the pins are cut using a 3D profiling technique with either a profiled dog-bone or drilled hole used for corner relief.

My question is about how the toolpaths were created. Is this type of dovetailing a standard part of PartWorks/Vectric/Aspire?

I can see how you can do this with MasterCAM or other high end CAM package but I'm hoping there is a solution for those of us without deep pockets


Thanks,
-paul

[bill.young]

Those 3d moves are created with a post-postprocessor that I created a while back with my buddy Robert Bridges. The Readers Digest version is that you draw lines in VCarvePro to show the location and direction of the dovetails, create a toolpath for just them, and then run that toolpath through a small program that creates a file with all the 3d moves. It's kind of kludgy but works well.

The interesting thing about them is that since you are using a straight bit to cut them you are not limited to a particular angle like a regular dovetail bit. It lets you do things like create puzzle boxes with different angled dovetails all around, so that it only goes together one way. There's a model of a bank I've made like that in the Sketchup 3d warehouse:

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehou...33b2853b56f1ad

The files to create the Maker Crates are available from Github:

https://github.com/wlyoung/Maker_Crate

and they include the "Edgetailer" program that does that post-postprocessing, and some VERY rudimentary instructions for using it.

It works well enough for me but is certainly not as easy as it ought to be. The good news is that there's some interest in creating a VCarvePro gadget to make it cleaner and simpler. Hopefully that will happen before too long, but in the meanwhile feel free to play with the Github download.

Bill

[lepton]

Bill -
Very helpful information - I will have a look and see what I can figure out.

Thanks for the quick response!

[WMNH]

Really? I thought it was just a box joint type cut not an actual dovetail. I'll have to do some more investigating. Can't quite see it in the video, is there anwhere else to see a closeup of this joint? I'll also check the links in post #2.

[bill.young]

There are a few pictures of sample parts on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaside...7624275444318/

[WMNH]

Thanks, still trying to wrap my head around this concept of cutting dovetails with a straight bit without cutting one board on it's edge. I couldn't download the edgetailer, I'll have to try it again.

[bill.young]

Github is definitely not the easiest thing to use. If you go to the https://github.com/wlyoung/Maker_Crate page you'll see a button at the bottom of the right hand side that says "Download ZIP". Clicking that will give you all the files in the Maker Crate repository, including the Edgetailer software.

[WMNH]

Thanks! I'll try that.

[scottp55]

Bill, Up here in Limestone, Maine in person for one more day. First hand look at box yesterday. Beautiful and box is sturdier than the old wood framed shop! You can feel the floor vibrate when the Desktop does it's Watusi in fast VCarve. That box is tight and looks good. Thanks No movement in box at all- RUGGED.

[Bob Eustace]

Doesnt this box give you goose bumps??? Who else but Shopbot would go to all this trouble for their customers?