Dovetail Boards End to End

[Edward Anderson]

Hi, I have a new Keller Dovetail jig, I'd like to connect 2 boards end to end using dovetails. Does anyone have a "how to" do this? The manual that came with the jig kinda gives a sketchy "how to". But I need help. I'd appreciate any help.
Thanks................

[Mike Henderson]

You would do "tails" on both pieces. Then tap them together with glue.

Mike

[Michelle Rich]

A I understanding youcorrectly? you want to take 2 boards, end to end, and make it one long board? if so, you don't need a jig..just a router table..one board held vertically and the other on the table.

[Edward Anderson]

Yes, I'd like to make one long board from two smaller ones, using a dovetail joint. I have a Keller Jig with the Keller dovetail bit, not sure if the bit would work on the router table.

[John Lankers]

Like Mike said - tails on both pieces.[ATTACH=CONFIG]338011
Edit: Try the bit in the router table and see if it's long enough, you should make a test cut anyway. I would feel uncomfortable if the bit was less than 5/8" in the router collet though

[Martin Wasner]

I've never tried this, but couldn't this be done in the jig? I could see height being a problem if the two boards are long, but other than that both pieces would be cut the same way? Like they were a drawer side?

I know I'd make them wide so you could rip them down after assembly.

[Jamie Buxton]

If I understand your intent, I don't think you can do it with the Keller jig. The spacings don't work out. The tip of the router bit is .44" wide. The tip of the tail is .84" wide. You need them to be equal, like the photo John posted.

[Glenn de Souza]

Hi,

Make a spacer exactly the width of the center to center tail spacing. I think it's 1 1/8" but double check. Clamp a stop block to the jig, rout the tails in your first piece, then without removing the stop block, place the spacer against it, and then clamp the second workpiece. Rout tails on it, and you should be golden. Pay attention to orientation. For what you want to do you will not need the straight bit, only the dovetail bit.

I like the Keller jig. I use it on the router table because I get better dust control that way, but you could clamp the workpiece in a vise and use it like the instructions show also. Hope this helps.

[Edward Anderson]

Hi Glen............
Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try later tonight after work.

[Mike Henderson]

You could probably cut the dovetails by hand quicker than you could do the jig set up, especially on long boards. Once you have the tails cut on one board, lay the tails on the other board and trace them with a knife. Saw and chisel and you're there.

Mike

[Mike Wilkins]

Your best bet would be to perform this task with hand tools. You get some good practice cutting dovetails by hand and you should practice of some scrap first until you like the results.

[pat warner]

For strength? Or just to get a bunch of sticks together for a panel?

[Edward Anderson]

No, not for strength at all. I want to Finnish off the underside of a cabinet project. Thought it would be a nice touch, and use up some of the small pieces of cherry I have left over.
I may give the hand cut dovetail a try...............

[pat warner]

Lapped dovetail here (http://patwarner.com/images/dovetailed-lap.jpg) at 90° .
Not a problem to do this in length.
Would give you strength and not use up too much material.

[Glenn de Souza]

Edward,
I found a few spare minutes and pulled out my Keller jig and realized the advice I gave you was wrong. You can clearly see from the backer block the wide dimension of the standard dovetail bit is 7/16 but the intervening "mating" dovetail left between each two cuts would be 3/4 at the wide end. So it would not be as easy as I thought to make an interlocking end to end joint. Like Jamie says above, they need to be equal for it to work easily like a box/finger joint.

However it appears that what you want to do can in fact be done with the Keller jig because there is a reference (http://www.kellerdovetail.com/performance/whatjoinery.html)on the Keller website that talks about the ability to do end to end dovetails and even box joints with the jig. Unfortunately I can't lay my hands on the manual right now, so I'm not sure of the procedure the website is referencing. If the manual doesn't make it clear to you, then give Mr. Keller a call. In my experience he is very good about returning calls and will go out of his way to help woodworkers solve problems with his jig. One thing is for sure, he knows his jig better than anyone else.

[Edward Anderson]

Thanks Glen.....I have the Keller manual but it doesn't go into much detail.

Basically say's cut one board with the dovetail bit, lay that board over the second board laid flat face up, scribe the dovetails onto the second board. Then project these lines to the end of the board, locate the dovetail template on the board to remove the waste in two passes, moving the template in-between cuts. Keeping the depth of the bit the same.


I did e-mail Mr. Keller a few days ago asking for a bit more of an explanation, just haven't heard back yet. I'll probably give him a call when I get a few days off if I don't hear back from him. I really appreciate everyones help here, I'm glad I joined.

[Wade Lippman]

Box joint would be much easier, and sorta nearly as decorative.

[Myk Rian]

Finger joints are even easier.

[Mike Henderson]

I always thought box joints and finger joints (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_joint) were the same thing. Wikipedia thinks they are the same.

Mike

[Edward Anderson]

I'm hoping to get a few free hours to experiment with the Keller jig this weekend. I'm really glad I got on board here, thanks to everyone......

[Prashun Patel]

I'm not usually not one to question Mike Henderson... but i thought box joints were a specialized vsn of finger joints. Box joints have the squared off ends, but i though finger joints can have squared off or pointy, scarfed fingers like some router bits generate.

[Mike Henderson]

I'm not usually not one to question Mike Henderson... but i thought box joints were a specialized vsn of finger joints. Box joints have the squared off ends, but i though finger joints can have squared off or pointy, scarfed fingers like some router bits generate.
You're right, Prashun. I just checked and found router bits described as producing "finger joints". But I've also seen box joints described as finger joints. When I posted, I was thinking of the box joint type of finger joints. I looked up finger joints (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_joint) on Wikipedia before my original posting to check my understanding and they indicate that the two are the same.

So I guess the specific way of describing them might be "finger joints produced by a router bit."

Mike

[And I agree that they would be the the strongest way to join two boards together end-to-end. I've noticed that some commercially produced boards are "extended" that way.]

[Chris Padilla]

Go to any borg and head over to their molding section and you'll see pine molding all "finger-jointed" together. My house is full of this stuff...works for us.

I have an Incra I-Box for making box joints and I used it recently just for that but this thread opened my eyes for how to join together all the "small but I just can't throw it out because it's good maple" scraps I have from various projects. I can just use a standard ripping blade to make 1/8" flat-topped box joints. Sweet!

This might make cool-looking cutting boards now that my mind is wandering....

[Art Mann]

If your requirement includes the need for strength, you would get a much stronger joint if it is a scarf joint. That is how boat builders do it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

If your requirement includes the need for strength, you would get a much stronger joint if it is a scarf joint. That is how boat builders do it.& crown molding putter upperers too ;).
Well, @ least this crown molding putter upperer uses a scarf joint...

[Edward Anderson]

I had a minute to think about the dovetail joint ( end to end ) using the Keller Jig. It is relatively easy to do once I thought how the jig works. I make one test cut that nearly came out perfect. The only thing you need to do is carefully line up the angle of the bit with the lines scribed in the face of the corresponding board. Depending how close your line is scribed and how close you line up the bit with the scribed line while the bit is in the jig, the tighter the joint will be. ( Hope you can follow what I did ).

My first test cut came a bit loose, but I didn't spend more than 30 seconds scribing and lining up the bit. I just wanted to do a test cut.

I'll do one more test, taking a little more time and see how tight I can get the dovetail joint.

[Glenn de Souza]

Edward,
I spent a few minutes this morning experimenting with end to end dovetails on the Keller jig, and it was actually pretty easy. Attached are photos of two attempts on 2 1/4" Alder. The first one I laid out where there is one wide tail in the center with two narrower tails flanking it. I didn't care for that look so I did a second with a narrow tail in the center flanked by two wider tails. The Keller jig uses a ratio (2:1) I think where the tails are wider than the pins. This is one of the reasons I like it because the dovetails on a Keller jig have more interest than even 1:1 dovetails like some jigs make.

When I made the second end to end joint, I cut a strip of 1/4" MDF and double stick taped it to the backer so I would have exact backer cuts of the bit at my set height. Using those cuts, I lined up my layout lines (transferred to the end grain) exactly and cut away. It took maybe 5 minutes to make the joint. I made the second one very tight to the point where it took a few mallet taps to drive it home. It would be very easy to take a tight joint back to the jig and move it over a tiny bit to adjust the fit.

I know others have mentioned other joints that are "stronger" but glued up, this would be pretty strong in my opinion. Maybe I'll glue it up, elevate it and stand on it to see if it will carry my weight. Sometimes the question isn't what's strongest, but what's strong enough for your application. If ultra maximum strength were needed, I wouldn't join two boards end to end in the first place.

Thanks for raising this question. I think it might look trick to build a face frame where the two rails are set into the stiles with a single wide dovetail the way stretchers are let into carcasses in traditional period furniture. As long as you are laying out a joint where the tail is no narrower than the 7/16 bit, you should be able to use this method. Mind you, since there is no visible end grain in an end to end joint like this, the joint itself would be very subtle. In the face frame idea, maybe it would be more visible because of the opposing grain direction.



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[Edward Anderson]

Dovetail joint looks good Glen. I finally had some free time earlier today, it actually was pretty easy to do like you said. I wasn't interested in the strength of the joint, only the look.