Omnijig

[Don Brillhart]

I am about to use my PC Omnijig for the first time on through dovetails. The instructions call for a rotation of the board, 180 degrees to cut the opposite end on the left stop. Since all cuts are made on the left, I think this will yield different patterns at each end unless the jig layout is perfectly symmetrical. A 180 degree flip of the board would seem to me to be best. The dovetail pattern would then be the same on each end, top to bottom.
Any opinions?

[Dave Arbuckle]

OmniJig works the same in throughs as the Leigh does. Unless you are deliberately making assymetric tails (like for a box you're going to cut the top off), you always cut them on the same stop.

Are they perfectly symmetrical? Nope. Does it matter? Nope. ;) When you lay out the pattern on the jig, make it visually symmetrical. If you cannot see the asymmetry on the jig, you won't on the box either.

Dave

[Don Brillhart]

OmniJig works the same in throughs as the Leigh does. Unless you are deliberately making assymetric tails (like for a box you're going to cut the top off), you always cut them on the same stop.

Are they perfectly symmetrical? Nope. Does it matter? Nope. ;) When you lay out the pattern on the jig, make it visually symmetrical. If you cannot see the asymmetry on the jig, you won't on the box either.

Dave
Hi Dave: I still have the gut feeling that filpping the work pieces top to bottom will give a more uniform appearance than rotating them.
Don

[Jim Becker]

Hi Dave: I still have the gut feeling that filpping the work pieces top to bottom will give a more uniform appearance than rotating them.

Don, mill some scrap to the same thickness that you plan on making your project and try it both ways...prototyping is a good methodology for finding the right combinations for your designs. Further, it gets the bit-height setting out of the way now and for the future as you can keep these sample for quick setup of the router.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Hi Dave: I still have the gut feeling that filpping the work pieces top to bottom will give a more uniform appearance than rotating them.
Don

Don, first rule is, there ain't no rules. ;)

Except, if you mean what I think you mean by "flipping", that in fact won't work. The same side of the workpiece needs to face you the whole time. That's pretty near a promise.

If you transcribe the layout from one end to the other, you still have the rotate the pieces, but also move from left to right.

Like Jim said, try it any way you like. On scraps.

Dave

[Don Brillhart]

Don, first rule is, there ain't no rules. ;)

Except, if you mean what I think you mean by "flipping", that in fact won't work. The same side of the workpiece needs to face you the whole time. That's pretty near a promise.

If you transcribe the layout from one end to the other, you still have the rotate the pieces, but also move from left to right.

Like Jim said, try it any way you like. On scraps.

Dave

Thanks Dave. The pins won't be pointing in the right direction if I flip instead of rotating.
Don