Dovetails

[Dave R1]

I just thought I'd share a picture of a dovetail joint I made today. This was a test joint to test a stop system I came up with. Thesockets were cut with a router in 3/4" stock with a HSS 8

[capt jake]

That is very impressive. One of these days I need to hone my skills at dovetails. I only have a jig to work with. One which leaves a lot to be desired.

Any more pictures of the set up you used?

[Dave R1]

Jake, one of the problems with the dovetail jigs out there is that they are set up for only one sort of bit or maybe even only one bit. The ones with the fixed comb sort of guide are rather limited and if they only have the parallel-sided fingers they can only do half blind DTs.

I didn't use a dovetail jig to do this joint although it was done with a router. I used a device called the WoodRat. It is kind of like a router table except the router is right side up. It can be used for all sorts of stuff besides dovetails. Since both the router and the work are being held by the Rat, you can do safe climb cutting which yields better, cleaner cuts for things like tenons and edge profiles. Climb cutting on a conventional router table is a great way to lose some flesh and squirt blood all over your shop.

the Rat isn't limited to a specific sort of dovetail bit. you can use carbide bits if you want although I certainly prefer the look of the HSS cut joint. It is much closer to looking like the needle pins you might cut if you were doing it by hand.

Here is a picture and some drawings I did of the Rat. The drawings show a piece of blue T-track. this is my modification and I ended up using a different sort of track which you can see in the photo. In the photo, the router is to the right just out of view

In these drawings, I omitted the router and the parts associated with it for clarity. they were done to illustrate the use of the stops and the T-track.

Here's a link to the US distributor of the WoodRat http://chipsfly.com/

Take a look at the Plunge Bars, too. They are a cool attachement for the router with or with out the Rat.

Go to http://woodrat.com/ and click on 'See it in action' to see a video clip of the Rat in use. the guy in the clip is the inventor.

While the Rat might seem expensive for a dovetail 'jig', consider that it is also a mortiser, a tenoner, it does box joints, sliding dovetails, profiles edges, cuts rabbets and dados, makes dowels, raised panels and basically anything else you'd do with a router table. I used mine to cut flats on the boom for my Weekender to receive the arms of the gooseneck.

I think it's a cool machine.

[capt jake]

Well, that's a tool I have never seen before. I like it. Being as I don't do that much in furniture anymore, I would have a hard time justifying the price. I will bookmark it for future reference though.

thanks!