What's the widest carcass you'd plan for?

[James Jayko]

I made the dovetail station that Mike Pekovich had in FWW a year or two the other day, and its fantastic. Seems like it'll really save some time.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/proj...-for-dovetails

That said, I'm building a dovetailed bookcase, on which the sides are too big to use this particular jig. I'm thinking about making a bigger version...what's the biggest case side you'd plan for? 13"? I know..."What do you usually build?" But y'all have built way more stuff than me so I figure a survey would be helpful.

What say you, internet friends?

[Jim Becker]

The "what do you intend to build" is actually a relevant question for this kind of thing if you want to use a jig/fixture. You also have the option for larger carcasses of cutting dovetails by hand without a jig/fixture other than maybe an angle guide to mark them out for consistency. I've done one project that was close to 24" deep that way. (an armoire long ago). Any kind of jig/fixture should support the most common work you would likely do with it. If you think there will be a lot of 13" deep shelving projects that you want to use dovetails on, then zero in on something that can support at least that width.

[Ron Selzer]

build a few 24" deep, 40- 70" wide projects with machine dovetails so far. 6' tall for the tallest one, more planed and coming someday.
Leigh 3 jig
made some wider with hand cut dovetails, not those skinny ones you see on here, but they work, just nowhere as beautiful.

[Ben Ellenberger]

Glad to know I’m not the only one who ponders this question!

if I had unlimited space I’d probably build a bench specifically for dovetailing and make the clamp about 18” wide. That seems to be the widest thing I ever think about. If I was making a moxon vise or building a general-purpose bench with a face vise, I’d probably go a little narrower.

Right now I just use a clamp to grab the other edge of anything that is too big for my current face vise (which is just a cheap vise). I grab one edge with the face vise and put a spacer block at the other end of the vise to prevent racking. It actually works quite well.

so, unless I was making really wide cases semi-regularly, I wouldn’t worry about a permanent solution for really wide cases. For those once or twice a year projects, I think you can do just fine with a bench edge and clamps.

[Paul F Franklin]

On my "do sometime" list is a dovetailed blanket chest. Most of those seem to be about 16-18".

[James Jayko]

Yeah, I've always done the fully hand cut dovetails...this jig really just makes routing out the waste on the pin side so much faster without having to do all that chiseling (you can just use a trim router and a pattern bit). And it makes an excellent work surface for cutting the tails with integrated clamps, transferring to the pin side, etc.

The jig really only takes about $30 worth of material, so I think I'm going to go with something that can handle ~15", maybe 18" as a stretch. If I end up making anything giant, I can just duplicate the jig then.

[James Jayko]

The "what do you intend to build" is actually a relevant question for this kind of thing if you want to use a jig/fixture. You also have the option for larger carcasses of cutting dovetails by hand without a jig/fixture other than maybe an angle guide to mark them out for consistency. I've done one project that was close to 24" deep that way. (an armoire long ago). Any kind of jig/fixture should support the most common work you would likely do with it. If you think there will be a lot of 13" deep shelving projects that you want to use dovetails on, then zero in on something that can support at least that width.

Yeah, I've always done the fully hand cut dovetails...this jig really just makes routing out the waste on the pin side so much faster without having to do all that chiseling (you can just use a trim router and a pattern bit). And it makes an excellent work surface for cutting the tails with integrated clamps, transferring to the pin side, etc.

The jig really only takes about $30 worth of material, so I think I'm going to go with something that can handle ~15", maybe 18" as a stretch. If I end up making anything giant, I can just duplicate the jig then.

[James Jayko]

Glad to know I’m not the only one who ponders this question!

if I had unlimited space I’d probably build a bench specifically for dovetailing and make the clamp about 18” wide. That seems to be the widest thing I ever think about. If I was making a moxon vise or building a general-purpose bench with a face vise, I’d probably go a little narrower.

Right now I just use a clamp to grab the other edge of anything that is too big for my current face vise (which is just a cheap vise). I grab one edge with the face vise and put a spacer block at the other end of the vise to prevent racking. It actually works quite well.

so, unless I was making really wide cases semi-regularly, I wouldn’t worry about a permanent solution for really wide cases. For those once or twice a year projects, I think you can do just fine with a bench edge and clamps.

Seems likely that ~whatever size I go with, my next project will need 1.5x the capacity of the last jig...

[Prashun Patel]

My own experience alert.

I wouldn't build another jig. From my own experience, every single dovetail jig I've built or bought has been used exactly once.

If I make so much of a thing that I would benefit from a jig, I end up getting bored of building that thing.

I've made desk drawer carcass that was about 22" deep. Once.

Pekovitch's jig is pretty, but all it really does is clamp a piece on end, raise the piece off the bench for easier sawing or chiseling, and create an auxiliary bearing surface for the router to minimize tipping. These are things you can use scraps to do anyway.

Sorry to sound like a poo poo, but I now think of dovetailing as very specific tasks: marking, sawing, wasting. It's better IMHO to develop those particular skills or have jigs that make each very generic task easy. It'll make you more versatile.

[Thomas Wilson]

I have a 24” Omnijig and use it on every drawer project. When you have a stack parts for 10 or 12 drawers for a kitchen, it is nice to know you will be done in a couple of hours. Lots of deep kitchen drawers are 9 1/2 to 10 inches and desk file drawers are 12 to 13 inches. I dovetailed a drawer case for router bits that is 16 inches deep. I don’t think I have used the full width yet. I plan to make some blanket chests and tool chests which will be 24 inch deep some day. In the meantime, the 24” jig takes up a lot of shelf space.

[Derek Cohen]

My own experience alert.

I wouldn't build another jig. From my own experience, every single dovetail jig I've built or bought has been used exactly once.

If I make so much of a thing that I would benefit from a jig, I end up getting bored of building that thing.

I've made desk drawer carcass that was about 22" deep. Once.

Pekovitch's jig is pretty, but all it really does is clamp a piece on end, raise the piece off the bench for easier sawing or chiseling, and create an auxiliary bearing surface for the router to minimize tipping. These are things you can use scraps to do anyway.

Sorry to sound like a poo poo, but I now think of dovetailing as very specific tasks: marking, sawing, wasting. It's better IMHO to develop those particular skills or have jigs that make each very generic task easy. It'll make you more versatile.

+1

I went through a phase of using a trim router to remove most of the tail socket waste. It was just as quick, and less risk, to chop out the waste with the method in my article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...Cabinet14.html

Two features here - kerfing chisel and splitting the waste out.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[James Jayko]

I don't disagree with your sentiment...the skills required to cut dovetails are super important.

But I do think that, say, making a jig that makes drawers easier will likely be useful in the future. Plus, I cannot stress enough how much chopping out pins frustrates me. I can do it just fine, but man, I'd rather be doing anything else. Yes I do realize how ridiculous this is when talking about 'hand cut' dovetails. What can I say...I'm an engima wrapped in a riddle.

[Prashun Patel]

I do hybrid dovetails. I actually saw my tails using the bandsaw. There's a simple hook jig you can make @8 degrees that allows you to quickly cut them by flipping the piece end for end and upside down. I waste between the tails with a chisel; I size those tails to fit the chisel exactly.

I also despise wasting the pins. So, I use a pin router with a very small mortising bit that has a top mounted bearing. I saw the pins down about 1/4 to the base line, then chop out only enough to allow the bearing to find the side walls. The router will tip, so you use any piece of scrap clamped to it to provide more purchase for the router base.

blah blah, there are a million ways to skin this cat. By the end of your project you too will have your favorite and trusted method and will deride all others as I am doing here

[James Jayko]

I do hybrid dovetails. I actually saw my tails using the bandsaw. There's a simple hook jig you can make @8 degrees that allows you to quickly cut them by flipping the piece end for end and upside down. I waste between the tails with a chisel; I size those tails to fit the chisel exactly.

I also despise wasting the pins. So, I use a pin router with a very small mortising bit that has a top mounted bearing. I saw the pins down about 1/4 to the base line, then chop out only enough to allow the bearing to find the side walls. The router will tip, so you use any piece of scrap clamped to it to provide more purchase for the router base.

blah blah, there are a million ways to skin this cat. By the end of your project you too will have your favorite and trusted method and will deride all others as I am doing here

LOL for sure, 100%

[Derek Cohen]

Yeah, I've always done the fully hand cut dovetails...this jig really just makes routing out the waste on the pin side so much faster without having to do all that chiseling (you can just use a trim router and a pattern bit). And it makes an excellent work surface for cutting the tails with integrated clamps, transferring to the pin side, etc.

The jig really only takes about $30 worth of material, so I think I'm going to go with something that can handle ~15", maybe 18" as a stretch. If I end up making anything giant, I can just duplicate the jig then.

The quick solution - which I have done - is to clamp a thick support (MDF or hardwood) for the router behind the sockets. The whole lot is then held in a vise. A specialised box is unnecessary.

Regards from Perth

Derek