ATTN: Incra Ultra Owners 16 or 24"

[Jim Kountz]

Im curious to hear from any Incra Ultra System Owners concerning through dovetail capacities. Basically I wanted to know if through dovetails on 3/4" material is possible and if so how wide of a panel can it do? For example could I through dovetail a panel 24"wx48"Lx3/4"thick? If so was it easy? Hard? Cumbersome? Any insight would be helpful as Im waiting on the video to arrive. Obviously delayed by the crappy weather. I finally got out yesterday after being stuck here for 4 days!

Thanks all,

Jim

:confused:

[Richard Allen]

Hi Jim

Not imposible but damn close to it. The piece is held vertical so you would be riding on a 24" x 3/4" surface attached to a little sled that rides along the fence.

You might be able to cut 3 or for pins at each end and then do a big box joint for the middle 18".

You might be able to set up a square behind the piece to ride along the fence with the sled and another square to support the 48" length (efectivly creating a 24" x 12" sliding surface).

For me the main issue is the 48" of height that you want to keep pependicular to the router table while you slide the edge throuhg the dovetail bit.

Just curious Jim: Why do you want to dovetail such a large piece of wood?

Thanks

[Scott Coffelt]

I have both an Incra and also the Leigh. They both have their benefits, the Incra is great for smaller items and the Leigh for bigger. I have the 10" fence on the Incra and I couldn't imagine trying to keep it all square and perfectly vertical. Just my 2 cents. If you don't want to purchase another dovetail jig, think about handcutting them.

[Chris Padilla]

You may need to rip the board into a smaller sections but that is something I would try to avoid and I'm sure you would like to as well.

For this purpose, the wood is simply too large to push it through the tool...you need to push the tool through the wood. Hence, you need a jig (like Leigh or any of the good 8 or 9 that are out there) and a handheld router.

Hand-cutting isn't a bad idea but I know this intimidates a lot of people...including moi! :)

[Jim Kountz]

The large piece is a side to a blanket chest. Also many tool chests Ive seen are done this way. There are many applications where one would dovetail a large panel like this. I have hand cut them but I may have a need to do many of these chests in a row and time is an issue on this one. I guess I'll take another look at the Keller and Leigh jigs again. Thanks to everyone who offered their advice!

Jim

[Tony Falotico]

In his book MASTERING WOODWORKING MACHINES Mark Duginske has a chapter on joinery where he discusses cutting dovetail joints on both the band saw or table saw. Included is discussion on how to make the jigs needed for successful cuts. I've not tried his methods yet so I can't vouch for how well it works, but do plan on trying it once I get the new shop set up. His methods may work well on the larger panels you want to work with.

If you can't locate a copy of the book e-mail me.

[Mike Lubin]

Check out http://woodshopdemos.com/bchst-1.htm
It can be done by making the chest in sections and stacking them vertically as you go. I am not sure how difficult this would be, or how noticable the joint lines would be, but it is an option.
I have the 16", and I don't think I would try to dovetail anything larger than that, so I personally think the 24" is overkill. Plus, someone correct me if I am wrong, I believe that even if you get the 24" jig, you still only get the standard 16" dovetail templates. Kinda defeats the purpose of the 24" jig.

If you do go with the Incra, they have a system (I think called the Pro something) that comes with a larger vertical sliding fixture that would be useful for wider boards. It is really the height and overall weight of the blanket chest boards that are the main problems.

- Mike



The large piece is a side to a blanket chest. Also many tool chests Ive seen are done this way. There are many applications where one would dovetail a large panel like this. I have hand cut them but I may have a need to do many of these chests in a row and time is an issue on this one. I guess I'll take another look at the Keller and Leigh jigs again. Thanks to everyone who offered their advice!

Jim

[Jim Kountz]

Been looking again at the Keller system. For what Im doing on the chests its seems like the best way to go. Simle accurate. I was only looking at the Incra as a way to kill two (or more) birds with one stone so to speak. I figured if it would do the large chest panels it would be a great addition to the shop since it does so much more also. Oh well, sometime it works out, sometimes it doesnt right? Thanks again everyone.

Jim