Problems with Carbatec blind dovetail jig

[I_wanna_Shed]

Hello All,

I got a Carbatec blind dovetail jig several months ago, and I thought the drawers on my lathe stand would be a good chance to use it.

But.... I am finding it a PITA to set it up!

Firstly, the supplied instructions aren't the best, luckily on this forum someone recommended the ones available from Woodstock International. But I still have a few problems:

1. My joint is incredibly tight - I need a fair bit of force from a rubber mallet to knock the joint together. The instructions say to loosen up a tight joint, decrease the depth of the router bit. I've done this, and I don't think it has made any difference. I have also set the bit 9/16" below the router base, as listed in the instructions.

2. Does anyone have any tips for setting up and side "stops" exactly 1/4" from the top stop and keeping it square? (After following the supplied instructions, my first joint had an offset of around 5mm [instructions are wrong!], after reading the Woodstock manual I adjusted the stop to be what I thought was 1/4" using a 1/4" drill bit, but I still have a gap of around 0.8mm).

3. Any other tips for using this jig?

Hopefully once I have set it up correctly it will be able to give me high quality, repeatable dovetail joints.:C

Thanks everyone for your help,
Nathan.

P.S. Just looking at the Gifkins website now.... I missed him at the Sydney wood show - he might be the excuse I'm looking for to get down to the Canberra show.

[cyco]

hey nathan australian woodsmiths has a great pdf on trouble shooting for these jigs
http://www.australianwoodsmith.com.au/pdf/30machinecutdovetails.pdf

hope this works and i hope it helps


simon

[Bodgy]

I have one too, a PITA.

As soon as the new Leigh jig is available at a reasonable cost I'm getting one of those.

You should check their website.

[I_wanna_Shed]

I have one too, a PITA.

As soon as the new Leigh jig is available at a reasonable cost I'm getting one of those.

You should check their website.



Bodgy,

Do you mean there is a new Incra jig coming out, or when the existing one drops in price. Do they usually drop in price? I was looking at the website last night and I am impressed. I didn't realise though that the system is just a precision positioning system for the fence, and not an actual joiner.

Cheers,
Nathan.

EDIT: Whoops, I got Incra confused with Leigh. The Leigh stuff looks very nice, not sure if I could get that past the Minister for Finance though!

[I_wanna_Shed]

hey nathan australian woodsmiths has a great pdf on trouble shooting for these jigs
http://www.australianwoodsmith.com.au/pdf/30machinecutdovetails.pdf

hope this works and i hope it helps


simon


Thanks Cyco, reading it now.

Thanks,
Nathan.

[routermaniac]

If you want hassle free dovetails, one word Gifkins :2tsup: . It doesnt do blind dovetails but you can easily create the same effect. I gave up on my POS chinese dovetail jig, too much hassle, uncomfortable, at times unsafe to use. Much easier to have the router fixed and move the work piece (unless you are dovetailing 1m long draws :D ).

regards

Marios

[Bodgy]

WAS

I'm talking about the new Leigh Super Jig

http://www.leighjigs.com/

not an Incra. These have dropped significantly in price and should be available in Oz soon, or just import one - slow camel train to avoid freight $$.

Many love the Gifkins but the Leigh gives you many more features and looking at the construction offers far greater value for money.

The main feature for me is the variable spacing and sizes of dovetails possible.

[dai sensei]

This (http://www.woodshopdemos.com/cmt-dtj-1.htm) may also help, assuming it is the one your talking about.