Thread: Dovetail Jig Stress

I'm not sure that you aren't expecting too much of the Euro jig. It's not an expensive item and may not be up to it. I know the one I've played with was way to fiddly for my liking.

You don't have this problem with a Gifkins

Welcome to the forums by the way.

Welcome to the board.

Sorry I can't help you much with the jig - cut them by hand, you have heaps of opportunities to adjust them any way you want. No noise of a router, no fine dust and an infinite number of spacing variations.

If the same bit is used for pins and the tails then the rake should be identical unless you have squeezed the joint so the top is compressed and the base isn't, leaving that gap.

Another possibility is the router bit is wobbling due to a cheap router or shot bearings in the router.

Let's know how you fix the problem.

Welcome Nathan,
I don't know much about the Eurojig.....I use the INCRA ultra lite, and it works well for me, and like triton stuff, you can keep spending heaps on "Extras"...;-)

I agree with the Borer, in that I think the router bit may have moved 'upwards' out of the collet, only has to be a minute fraction. This happens because of the shape of the dovetail cutter tends to 'pull' the bit upwards....I've had the same problem with spiral cut bits... and as it has moved further into your stock it cuts a wider dovetail

Well thats my 2 bobs anyhow......

Check your router for bearing runout... and judging by the cut shape your DT router bit may not have truely flat sides, or the bit may have the carbides offset to each other?

You can get very accurate DT's with a euro, just takes a bit of mucking about. The main thing I've found is the wood pieces need to be within .1mm in thickness and dont count on the template comb's mark(to line the upper wood piece)to be good.
Set your jig up before cutting the draw faces to lenght, as you will need to sand the lenght of the pins/tails too get them flush.
So you need to allow for this... measure up width for your drawer faces(front/rear) and then minus off the 2X thickness of your wood(assembled inside measurement), then measure up the test cut pieces(they must be the same thickness as your drawer sides/faces!)by marking a line on the inside corner while still assembled, disasemble and measure then add this X2 to your drawer faces.
This should get you within .5~1mm which is quite fine for drawers using metal slides.

No offence guys but suggestions like "buy a Gifkins" (in other words go out and spend $260) or cut them by hand (when he already has the Euro Jig) are perhaps not that helpful. There's a fair bit of that type of advice on this forum -- "I'm having trouble with my ($95) Ozito table saw".... reply: "Mate, you should have bought the Sherwood TSC-10-HB ($1600)".... not that helpful <rant off>.

Originally Posted by Wood Borer

If the same bit is used for pins and the tails then the rake should be identical unless you have squeezed the joint so the top is compressed and the base isn't, leaving that gap.

I use a Euro Jig with the half blind template, and hence the same bit for both pins and tails, and it works great. The key to tight fitting joints is to get the right depth set on your plunge router. I fiddled around to get it perfect then cut a grove in a bit of hardwood to use as a depth setting template each time.

Naf is using the through dovetail setup so must therefore be using two different bits: the dovetail bit with the straight comb template and the straight bit with the angled comb. Since the joints appear to be out with differing angles (i.e. they're not parallel but loose) I can only assume either the combs are out (unlikely) or the router bits are out. Naf, if you have a micrometer, try checking the cutting width of your straight bit along its length. Also, did you get the correct dovetail bit as specified by the Jig instructions? Not all dovetail bit have exactly the same angle.

Good luck. Getting dovetail jigs to work is fiddly at first but once you have a setup that works it's best to leave it set and not make too many adjustment.

Originally Posted by custos

Good luck. Getting dovetail jigs to work is fiddly at first .

Not with a Gifkins it isn't.

Gumby, now you're just winding me up . Actually I'd love a Gifkins but I can't really justify the cost. I mostly use dovetail joinery for drawers, and for that half blind dovetails are fine (actually better because you don't need a false front). Also, if you're doing a lot of drawers, the half blind dovetails are quicker because you cut both sides at once using the same router bit.

Originally Posted by custos

Gumby, now you're just winding me up

Who me ??? Nah, never

Thank you all for your responses. I'm just about to go buy a new router as it is a cheapie that I have. After reading a few of the responses I'm pretty sure it's the collet on the router. The thing that really annoyed me was that the first box I made was, in my own opinion, fantastic. Even though it was only pine. And I know i've only been a member of the forum for a very short time but I have been reading posts for months and months now, and I must agree with custos in regards to being told to buy a more expensive one, I'd love a Leigh or a Gifkins but just cant afford it at the moment. I bought a real cheapie from Ebay awhile ago, and that was a real waste of money, so when I got the Eurojig I was amazed at its simplicity to produce dovetails, that was after I found somewhere for the instructions to download as there were none in the box. By the way the instruction manual for the Trend version is much more helpful than the Eurojig or the CMT one, the jigs are all exactly the same.
Once again thanks for the responses, definately worth whiole signing up.

Nathan

Actually it's probably not your collet (thats the bit that you use to lock the bit into your router) but your template guide, or bushing. If the guide is not perfectly centered around the shaft of your bit you could end up seeing the results you got. Let me give you a tip -- dispense with a template guide altogether! I bought bearings (from here) that fit onto router bits, and so long as the bearing outer diameter is the same as the outer diameter of your template guide you can use the bearing instead of a bushing. You just need to position the bearing in the right spot and glue it in place with some lock-nut glue or epoxy. The bearing will naturally always be perfectly concentric (unlike bushings) and as a bonus the bearing reduces the vibration of the bit when cutting and produces a cleaner cut because it reduces the "chatter".

Thanks custos, I think I'll try the bearing bits. Just tried out another router and the same thing happened, although it was slightly better with the new router. When I bought the jig the salesman told me that the bits with the bearings weren't as good as the normal bits.

Nathan, as custos said with bearing guided bits, I have sourced bearings from mcjing.com.au and loctited them onto a dovetail bit shank, works a treat.

Do a search on the board for eurojig, there are a few other users out there that you could share ideas with.

Welcome aboard


Cheers.................Sean

I'm with wood borer. Cut them by hand. I find I can do it just as quickly as with machines and jigs. No setup time. Mark and cut. With a little practice you'll be surprise how well you can do it.

Not when you got 10+ drawers worth to cut!