Kehoe Dovetail Spline Jig

[richard poitras]

Kehoe Dovetail Spline Jig
I was just wondering from those amongst us who has a Kehoe Dovetail Spline Jig and what are your thoughts on the jig? Does it live up to your expectations? How well does it work? Any comments pro or con? And do any of you have the Corner Inlaying Jig that they sell also and how does that work as well?
www.dovetailspline.com (http://www.dovetailspline.com/)

[George Broughton]

Have the kehoe jig and I like it. Need to be careful when moving the router, easy to damage the slots. Kind of a pain to flush cut and sand the inserts, but looks very good on a drawer side or corner joint.

[Ray Newman]

Awhile back, I received one as a gift & returned it. I thought it was a bit over-priced & really didn't do anything that I couldn't do w/ a sled or cradle jig holding the work @ 45 degrees on the router table.

I mostly do/did small boxes w/ the sled & router table. One time I did construct a good sized box to store the HVLP turbine, hose, electrical cord, & spray gun w/ "dovetails" routed in the mitered corners. Considering the size of the box, it was not that difficult to clamp on the sled & rout the corners.

When trimming the "dovetails" flush, I first cut them w/ a flush trim saw (Lee Valley??) & then use a sharp straight bit in my laminate trimmer, which is mounted in an offset base. If you set the depth carefully enough, there is very little left to sand flush.

Depending upon the size of the work, you might very well be better served by building sleds of various sizes to more easily accommodate the work. When I built my sleds, I cut the base in half, then glued a 1" wide strip so that the sled would accommodate a 1" dia. router template in the router table. This served 2 functions: it kept the jig straight & it acted as "stop" to keep the bit form being exposed too much.

The hardest thing making the sled is cutting accurate 45 degree on the braces.

W/ such a cradle jig, splines can also be cut. I've seen such splines & dovetails referred to as "mock" splines" or "mock dovetails." Most router books have plans for making such a jig. One can also be found on p. 30 of Yeung Yan’s “Classic Joints With Power Tools.”

As one poster mentioned about the Kehoe, you best better be careful holding & working the router. The jig is plastic.

[richard poitras]

Ray thanks for your comments about the jig I have done different corner splines and keys in the same manors in which you are talking about, but one difference I see with this jig is its at a 1 degree angle and that keeps the joint more stronger and tighter and wedges into the key. I thought it would possible make a better no line joint or key when looking at it. I also am going to check out the book you recommended Yeung Yan’s “Classic Joints With Power Tools, I called up my local library and they have it stock.
Thanks Richard