Homemade dovetail jigs

[Kerry (Ottawa)]

I want to build 4 blanket/toy boxes for Christmas (ie more than a 12 inch side) and am trying to avoid doing a ton of hand cutting or the expenditure for a Leigh D4.

Has anyone used the Stots Dovetail Template Master? ( www.stots.com (http://www.stots.com) ) Comments?

Alternatively, does anyone have advice on building your own template/jig for dovetails? I have a PC router and a Delta R/shaper.
Thanks in advance,K

[Roman]

Hi Kerry, ever thought of cutting your own by hand, its really not that hard, A dazuki saw and a very sharp chisel, in combination with a band saw, router, and TS does a fine job. Even the liegh jig wont make the tails as tight as as the oldtimers used to.

There have been many articles in Fine Woodworking on how its done. Good Luck with whatever you choose. Regards Roman

[Harry in Sutton]

Kerry I have one of these things. It works OK once you make the right jigs for it. You'll also need to buy a couple of router bits, unless you have these already.
Harry

[Bud Christiansen]

Nothing against dovetail jigs as long as they work well (I love my Leigh) but why not cut them by hand?
That way you can use variable size and spacing (large in the centre of the board, smaller toward the ends), and other neat old-time tricks to show off some fine handiwork. Jigs are fine for production work, but with a little practise you can probably do the operations just about as fast by hand, when you factor in the setup and test-cut times. Also, for the price of the Leigh and the necessary router bits, you can buy the best dovetail saw in the world (Lie-Nielsen), a couple of Sorby chisels to hack out the waste with, and still have enough money left over to buy your wood.

[Paul O'H Ingersoll]

Kerry
Check the dovetails on this Pic.
This is the pattern and size that I use on the blanket boxes.It is about 13" high. wood is 7/8 " cherry. I cut the tails on the table saw,clean out the waste with a chisel, clamb the box to gether and mark the pins, cut them with a dovetail saw & clean out most of the waste on the bandsaw, finish up with a chisel.
paul
http://www.photoloft.com/view/Image.asp?s=fshp&u=1543635&a=1091890&i=7351013


http://www.photoloft.com/view/Image.asp?s=fshp&u=1543635&a=1091890&i=7351013 (http://www.photoloft.com/view/Image.asp?s=fshp&u=1543635&a=1091890&i=7351013)