dovetail jig that doesnt need router?

[Benchwayze]

The problem with the drill-powered ones is that an electric drill has a max speed in the region of 2K whereas a router spins at 20-odd K. It makes a big difference to the quality of the cut.
S

no reason why a router cannot be used with the Arcoy, I have used a bosch on mine with excelent results, less tendancy to snatch like a drill due to the extra speed. I still use my arcoy and may even have a spare one someplace, must look it out and see. The advantage over cutting by hand is not only speed but the ease with which one can do blind joints on drawer fronts.

I thought about this too Wildman, but the jig wasn't really designed for a router to spin the shaft on the handle-fitment.
I suppose the bearing would be ok, but the shaft that goes into the chuck doesn't look to be engineered to the accuracy of a router cutter shank. For this reason alone, I never tried it! I have a set of TCT cutters for the Arcoy too, they are still in their wrappers! I also got hold of a complete jig on eBay, which when it arrived proved to have never been used. Don't know why I bought it really, and it's still unused.

Good stuff was Arcoy, and for drawers up to 9" deep, the jig would still work, just as well as any other jig that cuts tails and pins in one. (ISTR Stanley-Bridges made a clone of the Arcoy.

 

[Wildman]

I think the shaft on the arcoy cutter holder is 1/4" and my bosch collet fitted fine.
PS 9 inches is enough for anyone :lol: :lol: :lol:
I used mine for kitchen unit drawers and chest of drawers it is really quick and acurate, cuts pins and tails in one go and adjustable if you want to make them tighter/looser. I reall is the rolls royce of dovetail jigs, over engineered, maybe, could that be why they are still aound and in use after 50 years.

 

[Benchwayze]

PS 9 inches is enough for anyone :lol: :lol: :lol:

You speak for yourself. My kitchen is gonna have 'deep' drawers. :mrgreen:

If you say the shaft fits a 1/4" collet without any problem, then I might just take my Arcoy out of retirement. It will save me planting false-fronts onto through dovetails!

Cheers.

 

[adzeman]

Still have my Arcoy dovetailer bought it new with the drill Drill wore out and could not get it repaired kept the jig for nostalgia Cut my dovetails by hand they get better every time you dou them

 

[Benchwayze]

Yes, Mike,

I quite agree. Dovetails do get easier and better with practice. I like to cut dovetails with hand-tools too and I've had my share of practice at it. One day I might attain perfection, though I doubt it, and I still find the need to 'get my hand in' after a lay-off . :mrgreen:

However, for the number of drawers I will be making over the next few months, at my age, I could be staring at the inside of a wooden box, before I finish! So for the utility jobs in the garage and kitchen, I'll use a jig.

I believe that apart from appearance, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with a jig-cut joint. Dovetails on drawers spend most of their life hidden, (even from the person who opens the drawer), so I don't worry that my kitchen, garage and utility room fitments will have mere jig-cut dovetails. As long as I use the jig correctly, no problems. The joints will be better than the plastic jointing systems I might get with a kitchen from IKEA or similar suppliers. They will also be better than a poorly executed, hand-tooled joint. I think you might agree.

So these days, I reserve hand-cutting for those special jobs; and for making bookends! I make a lot of bookends of late..
It's good practice. :wink: Cheers Mike.

 

[Tony Spear]

i am a complete novice when it comes to joint jigs and this is probably a really dumb question but are there any good dovetail jigs that dont need a router?
it would be cool to cut them with a hand saw if their is a jig that allows that
links and pics would be nice

If you don't want to use routers and jigs why not go traditional; mark-up, saw and chisel, or just freehand with no mark-up?
It's not that difficult but you would need to do a few samples before being sure of accuracy.

It's all very good for you Jacob - you're a professional woodworker and spend your time around tools.

Some of us are amateurs and don't have the time to mess around practising things whenever we want to make something!

Sure, I can make a reasonable hand cut dovetail, but for the time it takes, I'm better off using the Woodrat if I need to make a number of of them. Similarly with your obsession with hand sharpening - I don't do enough sharpening these days to get the "muscle memory" that you've spoken about in the past, so I use a basic Eclipse jig
(but I'm not going into the Kell jig scenario)!

BTW, Jimi43 appears to have found in a Boot sale, the perfect stone for you!

 

[Tony Spear]

But the best way to cut dovetails without a router is, dare I say it? With hand tools.

=D> =D> =D> never a truer word said

That's as maybe, but we don't all have a 10 year old apprentice to cut ours for us! :mrgreen:

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Jacob is right, you don't need any jigs to make dovetail joints, you don't even need a guide, all of the dovetail on the finest antique furniture were cut by using the tails as a template. With a little practice you will be making good close fitting dovetails in no time at all.

Have a look at this on you tube, this guy shows how to do them very well: -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ8fSSKn0Ls

 

[Jacob]

...........
It's all very good for you Jacob - you're a professional woodworker and spend your time around tools.

Some of us are amateurs and don't have the time to mess around practising things whenever we want to make something!

Amateurs used to manage quite well without routers and DT jigs, and it's quicker and cheaper. Surely the whole point of being amateur is that you do have the time to mess about practicing?

...... Similarly with your obsession with hand sharpening - I don't do enough sharpening these days to get the "muscle memory" that you've spoken about in the past, ........

"Muscle memory"? I've never spoken of it, I don't even know what it means.
Obsession? Well perhaps - but then sharpening is totally fundamental to so many tool users and has been for millions of years. It's the ability to sharpen a stone which gave us the "teeth" to dominate the world as we have done.
It's really useful to have a quick and easy hand method, especially if you are pushed for time. it seems to have become a major obstacle for modern woodworkers.

 

[Benchwayze]

Jacob,

As far as I understand it, muscle memory is what able bodied persons have; (And within limitations, disabled persons as well of course) it enables us to learn how to do most physical tasks, without thinking too much about it. Activities such as walking, running, cycling, driving a car, playing a musical instrument (properly); and cutting dovetails without marking out, but knowing you have the saw at the correct angle, just by feel.

HTH :wink:

 

[marcros]

i hav just bought his book by chance- cabinetmaking, a foundation course. It seems very good, although I am only part way through.

Edit: this is quoting the John Bullar/youtube link

 

[Benchwayze]

I haven't seen JB's book, but I do have a lot of respect for his work.
I do like the YouTube videos he does, mostly because there is a no nonsense, no mystique approach about his methods.
He just gets on with it and cuts the joints. Much like Frank Klausz, whom I know has his critics over here. As he would say, "How more you practice, how better you get!" Muscle memory I suppose? 8)