A couple of jigs

[Derek Cohen]

I have been cutting dovetails and sliding dovetails for a cabinet I am building. This drew attention, firstly, to the dovetail jig I use for paring dovetail baselines, and then, secondly, to an alternate use for this jig to aide in cutting sliding dovetails.

I have updated an article that I wrote a few years ago on a jig for paring the baselines of dovetails.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/1.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/AJigforParingDovetailBaselines.html

This was augmented by a second, similar, jig.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/1Jig-dovetailjig.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/ANewJigforParingDovetailBaselines.html

As I mentioned earlier, today I was cutting sliding dovetails. One of the recent modifications I made to my workbench was to move a face vise to the end vise position. This now allows me to clamp a long board the length of the bench. It occured to me that the dovetail jig could double as a vise.

Here it is holding a board firmly by the end so that I could mark and knife lines across the centre section.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/IMG_7573.jpg

Here it is holding the board while I plane the male dovetail.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/IMG_7563.jpg

And here it is holding the board while I saw the female dovetail.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/IMG_7598.jpg

Hope that this gives you some ideas.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ralph Barhorst]

Very nice post. I enjoy looking at and building jigs.

[Derek Cohen]

OK, here is another addition to the uses to which the dovetail jig may be put.

This time I think one might think of it as a shooting board for a shoulder plane.

Today I was again working on the tool cabinet and constructing a drawer. This required stopped dados to the sides and - here - shallow tenons for the shelf.

It occured to me that I could shoot the tenons with the dovetail jig. The tenons are tiny - just 1/4" deep (half the thickness of the vertical support).

First I marked the baselines with a cutting gauge. I knifed these a little deeper just to be certain. Then aligned the mark with the fence, and ran the shoulder plane to the markings ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/Routerarticle-drawer2.jpg

Here is the result ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Joints/Dovetail%20jig/Routerarticle-drawer1.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Dave Anderson NH]

Great ideas Derek. I think I'll be using the "shooting board for shoulder plane" idea. I sometimes suffer from an inabilty to keep mine square during use.

[John Thompson]

Excellent idea for the tenons.. I usually just cut them with a hand-saw... but I do have the LV medium shoulder and that looks good for shallow ones on wide stock. Could have used that idea on a foot-board on a bed recently that tied into the two legs at the foot. 14" wide tenons was a challenge to hold a line with the saw.

Regards...

Sarge..

[Mike Cutler]

Nice jig Derek. Very functional. Looks like I have a new jig to make and give a whirl at.:cool:
That's a very nicely toned wood the jig is made from. What is it? It looks like Jatoba, but I'm not certain.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Mike. The wood is Jarrah.

Regards from Perth

Derek