Thread: Problems with Gifkins eating my timber

MMMMMMMMMMMM SCARY those routers at times,,,i always turn down the router speed on my TRITON it is a bit longer process but i always feel a lot safer

Thanks for the speedy reply - yes just when you think you have a handle on power tools they really let you know who's boss! This is why I don't do electricity

I remember turning the srews up on the router a while ago now. Haven't made a box (or anything) in ages, so forgot about router speed. I will check on it and see where it is at - Any particular speed you like??
I hope this is the answer - still happy to field more opinions though if needed.

Shannon, I use a Gifkin's Jig and have never had that problem. I am really keen to hear someone explain it and give the remedy because it is obviously something that is going to happen someday. My only comment is that generally cutters eat wood when they are climb cutting. (I know you said it happens whichever way you cut the wood) But the straight cutter always has to cut into both the left and right side of the pin. Does your method mimic a climb cut?

Shannon, I use the jig and have had no trouble with it. I am at the other end of the M4 at Winston Hills. You are welcome to drop over with your jig and a sample of the timber and we can look at what you are doing. Send me a PM and I will give you my address and mobile number if you are interested.

Thanks again for the replies - and to Bob for the generous offer of time and personal help.

I turned the speed down on the triton from max to about 60% and it has definately helped a lot.

First cut was interesting, but I think that was more to do with possible repercussions if it didn't work. I ran another trial joint and had no problems. This arvo I will trial another one but this time using the hardwood and see how that goes. I am reasonably confident though.

I will let you know.
Thanks again guys, this board rocks

Originally Posted by Shannon

I will let you know.

Please do, will be interesting to see if that has resolved the problem.

Shannon, I know I am late coming into the discussion but one idea has occured to me that has not yet been mentioned.

Reading your posts the first thought occured to me was that the timber may not be clamped as tightly as it could be, ie it slips or moves ever so slightly during the cut.

That may explain why you have had a pin snap off suddenly. I have never had this sort of problem happen to me so this is merely a wild, unsubstantiated stab in the dark and may well bring a flood of "don't listen to that bloke, he's got no idea" posts which I have no problem with, never claimed to have all the answers. I would be happy having just one of the answers to be honest.

I had problems with the timber moving when I first got my Gifkins. Roger recommends a Bessey Kwik Klamp and holder, a piece of advice I have followed and can heartily endorse, worked perfectly and made life much easier.

Who knows, you may have sorted the problem by now with the good advice already given by others....

Is the timber dead flat? It may be rocking under the clamp if its not dead flat.

Just a thought

Hi Shannon,

Again coming in late here but are you routing into the ends of the grain or the side.

I had a similar problem once routing some wenge with the Gifkins and thought it must have been the type of timber but realised that I was actually trying to rout sideways across the grain rather than into the ends of the grain. This cause the dovetails to easily snap right off because they are formed at right angles to the grain direction (hopefully this makes sense!)

If this is not the problem then maybe revisit your clamping, router speed and try some test cuts with other timber to try to isolate the problem.

Cheers

I modified my Gifkins. The pics are buried somewhere in here. I bought a second end stop and fixed two clamps to it so i wasn't stuffing around with a g clamp. I clamp a small piece of stock to the side i'm not using so the end stops don't twist and then clamp the workpiece down.

I also ensure that the mdf backing doesn't get too out of shape otherwise you'll have trouble getting clean chatter free cuts.

When cutting the pins it pays to skim the surface first to about an eigth of an inch then move the pin cut into the router bit from the left side of the pin first then bring the bit out the right side of the pin cut. You'll greatly lessen the chance of any damage to the joint.

Roger reckons 5 to 6 seconds for each pin/dovetail is about the right speed to feed.

If you intend to make a lot of boxes you could do yourself a big favour and do what i did - buy 2 routers (triton MF001's in my case) and make a double router table. The pins in one and the dovetails in the other. It saves a lot of time and leaves little room for error as the adjustments for both can be locked in. In case you're wondering I have a third router (Festo OF900) for other routing work so I don't have to take one out of the table.

Short grained low density timber will give you the most problems. They tend to loose chunks from the pins and dovetails. Long grain hardwoods tend to splinter.You have to adjust your feed rates and the router speed to get the best results.
It might be a good idea, when you have you machines set up right to do test custs in a range of timbers and do a chart of optimum feed rates and router speeds.
My tuppence worth.

Another idea for the Gifkins jig...

I tried making some dovetailed drawers using birch ply, but found I couldn't get clean edges on the front faces of the board. The backing board built in to the jig takes care of breakout on the back side, but I kept having bits of ply flick off the front as the cutter entered the material.

The solution? Use a 'fronting board' as well. I use a piece of 6mm MDF on the front of the workpiece, and clamp the whole lot to the jig. This way the cutter is going through the MDF before it even gets to your timber, preventing any breakout on the front face.

This allowed me to make perfect dovetails in birch ply, but I now use this method all the time to get nice sharp edges on any timber.

Thanks for that. Good idea.