Thread: Gifkins Jig query

Originally Posted by dazzler

I love my Gifkins.......

Just remember to scribe a line along the dovetails and nick your palm on the router bit and then you have 'handcut' dovetails

Handcut...get it...

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson:

Woo-Hoo...In your face, darksiders

D'oh....

I've built some drawers from 10mm ply (with a solid timber front), and used the mighty Gifkins to dovetail all the ply together. After lots of experimenting, I finally came up with a method to give perfect dovetails with this material.

The jig itself takes care of breakout at the back of the cuts, thanks to the replaceable backing board supplied, but I found it very useful to clamp a thin (3-5mm) piece of scrap MDF on the FRONT of the workpiece as well. This prevents any breakout as the cutter enters the workpiece - essential when working with ply, as otherwise the edges flick off as the cutter hits the wood. The same technique might be beneficial when working with other tricky timbers.

I'm currently building a dedicated 2 router bench for my Gifkins, based on a pair of cheap Aldi routers !!

Placed an order for the Gifkins yesterday as I couldn't wait and I will not be able to get to the Wood Show as suggested. Now that I have spent the hard earned, I wish it would hurry up and get here....... Not blaming anyone except good old slow Ozpost..........

Congrats Ray, your gonna love it!

Don't forget to post some piccies of your work