DT jig rant

[StevieB]

I had a bad day yesterday - everything I touched went wrong. Probably a bad day to open up the Axminster dovetail jig that has been sitting in the corner of the workshop for about 8 months then First problem - no handles for turning the cam rods. Overcame that by using a screwdriver as a temporary lever. Next problem - understanding the instructions. Now I do not expect nobel prize winning literature, but come on. These are worse than useless. In the end I just had to put in two pieces of similarly sized scrap and play with it until I could get something that looked like a dovetail. Except I couldn't. Try as I might I either couldn't get the alignment right, or the fit right, or the timber slipped, or the router slipped, or I skinned my knuckles with the stupid plastic knobs (never heard of Bristol levers guys?!) and so on. After an hour and a half of playing about it has all gone back into its box (minus the non-existant handles) until I am in a better mood and less tired.

A question remains however. What exactly should the spacing be between the plastic guides for the front and side pieces? I was using the fine finger template (which the manual said you can buy but gave zero information on how to use). When I finally got dovetails that fitted together nicely, the pieces of timber didn't line up. I clearly have a timber alignment issue rather than a router bit depth issue. Any tips on the best way to get this sorted or is it a case of trial and error again?

If anyone knows of a handy set of web instructions, or better a video walkthrough that would be great. I cannot access you-tube from work but can from home this evening.

And calm.....

Steve.

 

[MickCheese]

I seem to remember when I got mine I went to the Trend site and downloaded their instruction for the Trend Dovetail jig. Then using both the Axminster ones and the trend ones I was able to work out what to do.

Mick

edit : http://www.trend-uk.com/en/UK/trend/con ... s&id=11920

 

[mailee]

That is exactly what I did with mine. It was still quite a bit of trial and error to get them right though. These type of jigs can be a pain in the a*se to get right, that's why I ended up buying the Dakota jig and now it is a breeze to cut them. :wink: One little tip I would give you for that type of jig is to back the plates with sandpaper or another non slip material as they do move.

 

[Derek Willis.]

I bought the C.M.T. jig from Axminster a couple of years ago, dovetails were dead right first time, and have been ever since.
derek.

 

[StevieB]

Thanks Mick, thats a useful link and I have downloaded their manual. I think I need to spend some time and do some test runs when I am not tired to get it set up right!

Steve.

 

[DaveL]

Steve,

Have you checked the down load area on the Axminster site?
Some of the manuals on there have been rewritten and are better than the printer one supplied in the box. :shock: :roll:

 

[StevieB]

Huge thanks to Richard at Axminster - not only has he sent me an updated copy of the DT jig manual, he has also sent me a couple of missing handles for the cam levers FOC for the missing ones in the jig despite me purchasing it over a year ago but only now getting round to opening it.

Excellent customer service from Axminster!

Steve.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I have to say, much as I love jigs, I have a pet aversion to router DT jigs.
I used to own a Leigh, and although the results were excellent, it was such a pain to set up and learn to operate. No problem if you are using it daily, but once or twice a year meant that I was repeatedly going along the same learning curve. And that's the best DT jig on the market.
The simpler ones, with fixed spacings are, it seems to me, a very poor substitute, to the point where I would say that I would rather see imperfectly hand-cut DTs rather than well-fitting but horribly-proportioned ones that fixed jigs produce.
My advice would be to buy a good DT saw and spend a happy day just practising cutting DTs. It's not as difficult as you may fear, it just needs practice. As does using a jig, of course.
Personally I cut all my DTs on the bandsaw, it's an excellent combination of speed, flexibility and accuracy. OK I can't do the half-blind pins that way, so than I brush up on my paring skills, but everything else can be done very well indeed on the bandsaw.
S

 

[StevieB]

I was waiting for the deluge of 'cut them by hand' posts and surprised nobody had bitten. I would love to cut them by hand. I would also love to have the time to learn to cut them by hand. Heck at the moment I don't even have time to fiddle with the jig! Its not a lack of desire, but a lack of time to develop the ability at the moment.

Regarding the question of spacing and seeing sloppy hand cut or regular machine cut, to the vast majority of the population the difference is un-noticed. To someone with a knowledge of woodwork the difference is obvious, although opinions are still divided - the argument over whether to leave markout lines to 'highlight' the handcut nature of a dovetail on the mini-chest in the projects forum illustrates this point well. For me, I would hate to see a sloppy hand cut dovetail - I would rather get proficient in private than show poor workmanship. To others its all part of the journey and learning from experience.

I am trying to do drawers for my comp entry. I have not used a jig before since most of my work is house bashing DIY not fancy cabinet work. I am thus in the intermediate category - my knowledge of theory is pretty good, my imagination is excellent, my skills less so. I therefore need to decide whether to go for a good fitting but machine cut dovetail, or a poor fitting hand cut one. I am entering a jewellery box for SWMBO - at the end of the day I must work to make the best piece I can for her. She will not know the difference between a machine cut and a handcut dovetail, but she will know the difference between a sloppy one and one that fits. I am making it for her and if she is happy, I am happy. If it fails to do well in the comp because I haven't tried and failed to handcut dovetails, so be it. I would feel like I had lost had I produced a sloppy handcut dovetail and won the comp but SWMBO didn't use the jewellery box as it was 'rustic' in is manufacture.

Sorry if that sounds like a rant - its not supposed to be, just an explanation of why I am choosing the jig option rather than the handcut option. Perhaps when the kids leave home, I retire and have finally finished the DIY I can learn to ut them by hand

Steve.

 

[special bone]

Having played the game of trying to setup one of those jigs (an eBay version), there's 2 stages to the setup:
1. Setup the dovetail cutter length so that the dovetails fit together snugly.
2. Setup the slider to push one of the pieces across so that the alignment is right.
You'll need to do step one each time you use the jig unless you keep a dedicated router for the task.
Step 2 should only need performed once, unless you change the finger jig.
Whatever you do, DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the cams or they explode in a shower of plastic.

 

[Digit]

Or don't use Dovetails!

Roy.