Sean Rainaldi
01-20-2009, 9:09 PM
Hi,
I have a couple of questions for any of you experienced Leigh dovetail jig artists. I have attached a pic of my test joint, this is my fifth test half blind joint.
I’m excited about starting to build my kitchen drawers but need to iron out a few bugs before I start plugging along…I think I have a couple of issues going on here, I’m trying to sort them out to determine how to proceed with my next batch of test joints.
My first question, with the Leigh split finger design, it seems when I set up the pattern and slide the fingers together, I am concerned about them not meeting each other flush – there always seems to be a small gap between the fingers – tail side, not much - maybe .005 to .010” max, after I tighten them down. I am also never sure if they are lined up perfectly square to the support rods. I was wondering if anyone has off alignment issues (not square to the rods), or not meeting perfectly flush with each other (the fingers). Can this cause the pins and tails to be slightly offset? Can this cause tails to be slightly wider than their sockets (or vice versa), such that the pins and tails would not line up and the edges of the boards are not line up flush – as in the above photo? Or cause too tight or loose of a fit? If so, what do you guys do to mitigate the problem?
I can pinch the figers together but it does not seem to force the gap closed as I tighten them down...
As you can see, one of the joints seems OK and the other two are off, and strangely there are gaps on one side of two of the tails and not the other…
Secondly I have a cupping problem with my boards. When I milled the boards last week they were near perfectly flat as I could get them – no cups or bows, and they have been sitting in my shop for a week now – I just checked them this evening and now some of them have started to cup and bow, most likely due to the temperature changes in a harsh Michigan winter. I spoke with the good folks at Leigh a few days ago and they said that cupping will definitely cause gap problems. I have a small furnace in my garage and overnight it gets down into single digits and during the afternoon I can get it to 50 degrees or higher.
Is there anything I can do to mitigate the cupping and make the boards useable for drawers? Or are they now scrap? I have cut and milled 20 of them for 5 drawers.
Third, can the weight of the router on the support rods – fingers cause the finger array to slightly bow down such that my bit depth changes in the router along the joint? I made sure that all the fingers are flush and fully resting on my boards before I made any cuts.
I think the off joints are most likely a combination of things – what suggestions would any of you dovetail artisans have for my situation?
Thanks for any advice.
PS - I'd like to add that although I have the above described cupping problem with week old boards, the joint in the below pic was made out of two freshly milled boards that were near perfectly flat, no cups or bows, and I milled the doves right after the boards were planed.
I have a couple of questions for any of you experienced Leigh dovetail jig artists. I have attached a pic of my test joint, this is my fifth test half blind joint.
I’m excited about starting to build my kitchen drawers but need to iron out a few bugs before I start plugging along…I think I have a couple of issues going on here, I’m trying to sort them out to determine how to proceed with my next batch of test joints.
My first question, with the Leigh split finger design, it seems when I set up the pattern and slide the fingers together, I am concerned about them not meeting each other flush – there always seems to be a small gap between the fingers – tail side, not much - maybe .005 to .010” max, after I tighten them down. I am also never sure if they are lined up perfectly square to the support rods. I was wondering if anyone has off alignment issues (not square to the rods), or not meeting perfectly flush with each other (the fingers). Can this cause the pins and tails to be slightly offset? Can this cause tails to be slightly wider than their sockets (or vice versa), such that the pins and tails would not line up and the edges of the boards are not line up flush – as in the above photo? Or cause too tight or loose of a fit? If so, what do you guys do to mitigate the problem?
I can pinch the figers together but it does not seem to force the gap closed as I tighten them down...
As you can see, one of the joints seems OK and the other two are off, and strangely there are gaps on one side of two of the tails and not the other…
Secondly I have a cupping problem with my boards. When I milled the boards last week they were near perfectly flat as I could get them – no cups or bows, and they have been sitting in my shop for a week now – I just checked them this evening and now some of them have started to cup and bow, most likely due to the temperature changes in a harsh Michigan winter. I spoke with the good folks at Leigh a few days ago and they said that cupping will definitely cause gap problems. I have a small furnace in my garage and overnight it gets down into single digits and during the afternoon I can get it to 50 degrees or higher.
Is there anything I can do to mitigate the cupping and make the boards useable for drawers? Or are they now scrap? I have cut and milled 20 of them for 5 drawers.
Third, can the weight of the router on the support rods – fingers cause the finger array to slightly bow down such that my bit depth changes in the router along the joint? I made sure that all the fingers are flush and fully resting on my boards before I made any cuts.
I think the off joints are most likely a combination of things – what suggestions would any of you dovetail artisans have for my situation?
Thanks for any advice.
PS - I'd like to add that although I have the above described cupping problem with week old boards, the joint in the below pic was made out of two freshly milled boards that were near perfectly flat, no cups or bows, and I milled the doves right after the boards were planed.