Doug Hepler
06-06-2017, 11:02 PM
HI
This post is deep in the weeds, for folks that have experience making half blind DT with the PC jig and 4215 mini template.
I have a bunch of shop drawers to make so I thought that it would be fun to try the 4215 mini dovetail template on my 4200 series DT Jig. It wasn't fun.
The joint wouldn't close completely. When the DT fit well, there was a gap between the boards, that is, the DT were about 1/16" too long or the sockets in the pinboard were about 1/16" too shallow. The manual says that I should extend the depth of cut to correct this. I did that, in about 1/32" increments (one revolution on the depth gauge). As the depth of cut increased, the joint got tighter and tighter just like the manual said it would. Finally, when the gap had disappeared the joint was so tight that I couldn't assemble it.
The work-around I found is to cut a reasonably snug joint and then trim the DT to make them shorter or to put a spacer between the template and the tail board before cutting. This seems like a kludge. When you set the tail and pin boards in the jig they line up and the DT bit should cut them to a precise matching depth but that does not happen when I do it. I suppose I must be doing something wrong, but I cannot think of what it would be. Also, I found a post on Lumberjocks from a guy that had a similar problem.
So -- if you have had success cutting half-blind DT with the 4215 mini template please let me know that, and how you did it.
Doug
This post is deep in the weeds, for folks that have experience making half blind DT with the PC jig and 4215 mini template.
I have a bunch of shop drawers to make so I thought that it would be fun to try the 4215 mini dovetail template on my 4200 series DT Jig. It wasn't fun.
The joint wouldn't close completely. When the DT fit well, there was a gap between the boards, that is, the DT were about 1/16" too long or the sockets in the pinboard were about 1/16" too shallow. The manual says that I should extend the depth of cut to correct this. I did that, in about 1/32" increments (one revolution on the depth gauge). As the depth of cut increased, the joint got tighter and tighter just like the manual said it would. Finally, when the gap had disappeared the joint was so tight that I couldn't assemble it.
The work-around I found is to cut a reasonably snug joint and then trim the DT to make them shorter or to put a spacer between the template and the tail board before cutting. This seems like a kludge. When you set the tail and pin boards in the jig they line up and the DT bit should cut them to a precise matching depth but that does not happen when I do it. I suppose I must be doing something wrong, but I cannot think of what it would be. Also, I found a post on Lumberjocks from a guy that had a similar problem.
So -- if you have had success cutting half-blind DT with the 4215 mini template please let me know that, and how you did it.
Doug