Kirk (KC) Constable
06-19-2003, 7:43 PM
We spent literally HOURS getting a Porter Cable 4112 dovetail jig and router set up properly at the mesquite outfit. We bought a DeWalt 610 router specifically for dovetails, and the bit never comes out. Everybody knows if they screw around with the jig everybody else will be mightily irritated because everybody was there when we set it up and everybody knows it was RIGHT and to LEAVE IT ALONE.
It was a joy last time I used it...and I was the last one to use it. Today I made a couple drawers. Since I KNEW it was spot on, I went right to cutting the 'real' parts. They fit together perfectly, as I expected. Just a little tap with the mallet. But wait....a little more tap and the sides kept going deeper. And deeper! I've still got a very nice, tight fit...but my front and rear pieces are about 3/16 too long on each end. Kinda like I was trying to make a rabbetted/overlay front...but that requires a different set of edge guides and cutting the rabbet BEFORE the dovetails. The sockets are too deep, and it's obvious by looking at them. I am absolutely baffled as to what the hell went wrong. There's simply no way to do it 'wrong' and get that result that I can see, other than having the comb/template out of kilter. Which it wasn't last time I used it.
Anybody smarter than me is welcome to chime in with the answer...and those that are equally befuddled are encouraged to offer sympathy...
KC:mad:
It was a joy last time I used it...and I was the last one to use it. Today I made a couple drawers. Since I KNEW it was spot on, I went right to cutting the 'real' parts. They fit together perfectly, as I expected. Just a little tap with the mallet. But wait....a little more tap and the sides kept going deeper. And deeper! I've still got a very nice, tight fit...but my front and rear pieces are about 3/16 too long on each end. Kinda like I was trying to make a rabbetted/overlay front...but that requires a different set of edge guides and cutting the rabbet BEFORE the dovetails. The sockets are too deep, and it's obvious by looking at them. I am absolutely baffled as to what the hell went wrong. There's simply no way to do it 'wrong' and get that result that I can see, other than having the comb/template out of kilter. Which it wasn't last time I used it.
Anybody smarter than me is welcome to chime in with the answer...and those that are equally befuddled are encouraged to offer sympathy...
KC:mad: