Anyone doing Dovetails?

[Gary Campbell]

Is anyone using their SB to cut traditional radiused dovetail joints in drawer sides? Before I go and reinvent the wheel, I thought I would ask. I am hoping to build the jig and make a few trial cuts this weekend.
Thanks in advance, Gary

[jseiler]

There were a few posts a couple of years ago. It involved making a jig to hold one piece vertical. Morris Dovey was one, if my memory is correct.

You might also want to check into this set from Vortex. It supposedly allows one to cut dovetails flat. I was curious if anyone had tried it.

http://www.vortextool.com./ContentDetail.cfm?type=FP&id=15

John

[Gary Campbell]

John...
Thanks for the info. I found the earlier posts and saw Morris'dovetails. Being a traditionalist, I am looking for the tapered, radiused type. They may not be the best joint out there, especially for a CNC machine to cut, but our customers expect them and the Porter Cable jig isnt giving us the joint quality we are looking for.
Gary

[butch]

Gary
I have cut a couple dovetails on the CNC, but mostly the only time I use dovetails is for drawers, and it is faster to setup the dovetail jig and cut on there.
But here is a joint I am cutting on the ShopBot. I put a 2X10 at the end of the ShopBot, planed to the same thickness as my table overhang and bolted it to the frame. Then two 6" bolts towards the ends. Drilled two holes in a 2X2 piece of oak and use that as a clamp.
On my shopbot I ended up 8.05" in from the edge and put a piece of board to align to. Now I set my Y zero at 8.05, clamp a board in and make end joints.
Here is a picture of a Knapp joint I am making. Thats the reason I don't make dovetails any longer. People think the Knapp joint is real interesting, and that sells my chests. Well that along with a 2.5d carving.

I can get the joints to about .005 to .01 clearance. So they are very tight.
Here is a picture of what I am doing. So yes it is possible to do. I still think I can make more consistant joints on the ShopBot than with the jig.
Go to the above link and see the pictures of Dovey jig, and that is basically what I did.

Butch
4503

[Gary Campbell]

Butch..
Thanks for the info.. We are trying to see if we can shorten our delivery time be eliminating a drawer supplier. They have been giving us longer and longer lead times, and its messing with our schedule.

I made a couple cuts today, and they were promising enough to go on with the jig building. Even tho I was just "eyeball clamping" the stock in place, I found the following:
Less chatter, more accuracy with the bot.
Clearance needed in the PC jig between the slots and bushing cause slop that doesnt seem to show up when cutting on the Bot.
Cutting depth is much easier to adjust
Being able to adjust the depth of the slot on the fly to flush up the pieces is probably the biggest plus.
To get really accurate results, I need to get my jig made and use a bit with a 1/2" shank.
I also found out that anodized aluminum isnt the greatest conductor. I use a modified version of Ted's center in circle file to zero to the sides of the jig and wasnt always getting contact. I will be running all of the anodized pieces thru the sander before the jig is assembled.
Gary

[jseiler]

I emailed vortex for info on the bit set. almost $500. Ouch.

Thermwood makes several bits I might play with sometime (when I get some time-hehehe).

Here's the one for 3/4" material.
http://www.woodworkerswholesale.com/product_p/fsh2185b.htm

John

[Gary Campbell]

John..
I ordered a couple 5/8" dia. bits from Rockler. I want to try and get a slightly larger pin & slot so that we can hide the groove for a 1/2" drawer bottom. Jig is made and I cut about 30 pairs of dovetails and I am very happy with the results. Much easier to get consistently tight square joints vs the PC jig. Cut quality, due to less chatter is better, but I ended up breaking the 1/4" shank bit (DUH). Testing will resume after the UPS guy gets here
Gary

[jseiler]

Awesome (except for the breakage part). Did you try to take too much at once or something else? I would love to see a couple of pix of your test pieces.

John

[Gary Campbell]

John..
I was cutting in hard maple with a bit that was a little dull..... maybe pushing it a little too hard....you know the rest. Here is some pics of the setup... first the jig:


4504


4505

A Pair of corners before cutting on the jig:

4506

A single corner after cutting:

4507

Assembled corners:

4508


4509

Gary

[frank134]

Hi I am also new to shopbot. In fact I will be getting my bot in January. I love to make furniture. May I ask what software you use to make the dovetails and the Knapp joint. BY the way I think both look great and hope I canmake the same.
thank
frank

[butch]

Frank
I used V Carve Pro, and will probably now use Aspire. But it is a pretty simple program, I use for the Knapp and dovetails.
Gary has a program written that is much better and more versitile. Go to ShopBot web and you will see his contributions there. Very well done.

Butch

[frank134]

thank you butch. will do