Grizzly dovetailer

[Jon Dieterlen]

I am looking at adding a dovetailer to the shop. I am thinking something like the Grizzly G0611x. It is simliar to the Omec 650M. Single spindle, 16" capacity, pneumatic clamping.

Does anyone have any experience with the Grizzly machine? I am not a Grizzly lover by no means. I would buy a used higher quality machine, but haven't seen any close enough to consider.

Thanks for any help, Jon

[michael gates]

There is a beautiful Dodds Machine on the Woodweb exchange for 2500.00 , it looks new.

[Rick Fisher]

Hey Jon..

I actually have the Shop Fox Equivalent.. http://www.woodstockint.com/products/w1805/

It pretty much the same machine, but white..

The Pneumatic clamping is absolutely the way to go.

Its extremely fast at cutting one type of dovetail.. I am building a workbench right now with a dozen drawers underneath.. Milling all the maple drawer parts is the slow part.. Dovetailing each drawer becomes insignificant in the process.

If you want any particular pictures, or have any concerns, let me know.. I can snap a pic or two if you want any detail..

[Rick Fisher]

Jon..

I took a look at the machine that Michael referenced on Woodweb.. http://www.woodweb.com/exchanges/machinery/posts/449302.html

I would have bought that if it where available.. I would allege that the machine copied in Taiwan which became the Grizzly or Shop Fox is that Dodds machine.. $2500 is a great price for the original article..

[Dell Littlefield]

Here is a used one listed on Pensacola Craigslist. I don't know anything about the machine and it is not mine. http://pensacola.craigslist.org/tls/2434302673.html

[Jon Dieterlen]

Thanks for the replies. I saw that Dodds as well. I'm in Indiana, I'll have to find out how much to ship. The Shop Fox is a few hundred more than the Grizzly. I don't know that there is any difference in the quality.

I have been out sourcing the drawers at a clip of 30-40 per month. I just buy the the 4 sides un-assembled. I the cut the bottoms, assemble and finish. The cost, including freight, of the 4 sides averages $26 per drawer. The material cost for the same parts would cost me $6 per drawer.

I have sufficient equipment to edge glue, plane and sand the wider blanks. Several of the drawers I use are 3-4" tall, so they do not need to be edge glued, for the most part. I figure it would take 2 days to prepare the parts for 40 drawers. That would return $50/hr to cover labor, return on investment and overhead.

Does the Shop fox produce clean high quality dovetails? I certainly would not want to take a step backwards in the quality department.

Thanks, Jon

[David Kumm]

There is a powermatic on ebay. Check under "dovetailer". Listed at $1500 Dave

[Rick Fisher]

When I looked into these machines, I came to my own conclusion that the machine offered by Grizzly, Shop Fox, Powermatic and General where all the same .. There is a machine made in Taiwan called the DVT-65, by Tru-Pro .. http://www.trupro.com.tw/product.php?mode=show&cid=32&pid=213. I figure its the same machine with some fancier handles and such on some models..

That being said, this should apply to all the machines.. probably applies to the Dodds as well, as I believe that these import machines are all copies of the Dodds..


This is a joint I made in a drawer that turned out to be the wrong size.. lol

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170977.jpg

That joint was sanded with a 6" ROS .. Takes about 60 seconds of sanding to make them smooth..


Jon.. Here is a 1 minute video of my machine making a simple 5" joint.. There is sound as well. It should give you a better idea what to expect..

Click on the face of this picture
http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/th_Dovetail.jpg (http://s335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/?action=view&current=Dovetail.mp4)

This is the left side of the machine .. Two toggle switches are on each side to control the 4 clamps.. The pressure is 40 psi.. it can be run off any size compressor..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170981.jpg

This is the front of my machine.. its kinda dusty.. Notice the orange handles on the clamps.. 1/2 a turn and you can slide the pneumatic clamp on the rail.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170982.jpg

The cutter is a single bladed carbide cutter. The same cutter is used on the Powermatic and all the rest, so they should be easy to find. I have a spare, but have not needed it yet.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170983.jpg

These large bolts are adjustable.. Left side of pic .. This is to adjust for the thickness of the material.. Its not a big deal to change .. but ideally you will make all your drawers out of the same thickness of material.. I can clamp 1/2" - 5/8" with no adjustment.. could likely clamp 3/4" ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170984.jpg

This is the rear of the machine .. Gives you an idea of the build.. rails etc..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170985.jpg

Top view.. the clamps which hold down the vertical boards are identical.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170987.jpg

This is where the material is clamped.. Its basically just that hard white plastic and could be easily replaced.. Its also adjustable.. There is a spin wheel for adjusting the vertical plastic guide.. it needs to be exactly 1/2" past the horizontal ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170988.jpg

The motor.. its a 1hp Induction motor.. I really notice that the machine does not seem to lag when cutting and chaulk it up to using an induction motor..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1170989.jpg

In the video, I am using 5/8" Baltic Birch scraps.. I cut them to 5" wide.. You will notice that the duct collection is okay.. but like most routers.. not perfect. lol

Hope this helps

[Rick Fisher]

That video is about 1:12.. Gives you an idea how insignificant cutting the dovetails becomes.. I think a rolling cart with all the parts would be a bonus if someone was to use one of these for volume..

I sand each joint. In my home, we have dovetail drawers that where probably supplied by the cabinet company.. they are nowhere near as nice.. lots of divots, and not flush.. I think, like anything.. if you take care when assembling.. you can get very good results..

-If the wood is warped.. you get cracking appearing in the pins and sockets.
-If its not clamped tight against the guides.. you get crooked joints..
-If you go too fast.. you get chipping.. The speed in the video will work on any wood.. Baltic Birch is harder to avoid chipping than maple..

I tap the joint together as shown to not drive the pins too deep.. In my kitchen, there is lots of deep pins..

It takes about 20 drawers for a guy like me to have the light bulb go on and actually get it .. lol .. but like most things.. when the bulb goes on .. its pretty simple..


For the record, I have cleaned my machine.. lol .. As a router, it tends to throw dust and chips in a 360 degree circle.. The dust collection works, but its a router..

[keith micinski]

Heck I didn't even know you could cut dovetails in plywood. The one time I tried it with my Incra it just chipped out everywhere.

[Rick Fisher]

Some plywood is better than others.. I have tried to dovetail in that Cheapo birch ply from China.. (Borg ply) .. and it was a disaster.. BB is not too bad..

[Jon Dieterlen]

Thanks Rick for the information. I inquired about the Dodds, but it is sold already. I think I'll go for a Grizzly or Shop fox. The powermatic on Ebay is the smaller version w/manual clamping, and it is in CA. I'm in Indiana.

I guess as long as the parts are less than 1/2 the available clamping width, you can clamp up 2 joints at a time, one at each end.

Jon

[David Kumm]

Jon, I called on the Dodds as well. Guy said he would have others after the first of the month. I'm not sure that Dodds actually produces the small machine or rather imports it. There is also a PM 65 in Minnesota on CL. Dave

[Rick Fisher]

The machine really doesnt come ready to clamp on both sides.. I wonder if you would just clamp right up against the first set of stock ?

Either way, if you watched the little video I did.. with Pneumatic clamps, the actual dovetailing is very fast .. which is why I agree with you .. manual clamping is not the way to go .. I am so impressed with the pneumatic clamps that I would not trade for a domestic machine or an italian machine with manual clamps..

[Jerome Hanby]

Photo bucket is blocked by many firewalls. Pictures uploaded to SMC can be seen by everyone that can see the post and will survive as long as the post does.

[David Kumm]

Talked to omec guy and found the dodds manual dovetailer is made by omec and essentially is the omec 650-m. Dodds adds their own steel base as well as motor. Carbide bits are proprietary to the machine but available from several sources and run in excess of $100 each. Dave