Dovetail jig

[Gregor1]

I want to play with my new Porter Cable dovetail jig. I have never used one before. Is there a certain thickness of board that's any easier than another thickness? Something a beginner should start out with?

Thanks  Greg

[Willyou]

I have used mine only a few times. So, I don't consider myself an expert, but here are a few things i have found:
Read and re-read the instructions. They are pretty well written, but there are several things that need to be properly done and adjusted.
Read the directions again!
To answer your question: I don't think the thickness is too important. I would avoid getting the pieces too thin or too thick. Too thin and your risk some splitting and too thick wastes a lot of wood and makes a bigger mess. Something in the neighborhood of 1/2" - 3/8" works good for practice.

[Bill Tindall]

I want to play with my new Porter Cable dovetail jig. I have never used one before. Is there a certain thickness of board that's any easier than another thickness? Something a beginner should start out with?

Thanks  Greg

This jig is good for drawers; not so good for blanket chests.  A better jig for both is the Keller, but I digress.  Because what you have is good for drawers, make a drawer.  13/16 +/- front,  3/8 to 1/2" sides and back.  Resulting practice "drawer" can be employed as a box.  

The problem with this device for a drawer is that some height drawers lead to unsatisfactory fractions of a dovetail, top or bottom.  Also, the gluing surface is not as good as a Keller or hand cut dovetail.  I had drawer joints fail after several years that were made with this jig. 

Buy a good saw (Lee Valley makes a good inexpensive saw) and learn to make hand sawn dovetails.  Infinitely versatile.  They are not hard to do if you make them functional rather than flauntable.  I teach a half day class and everyone leaves with an acceptable dovetail joint that will hold a drawer together and look as good as many antiques.

[rwe2156]

Had one & got rid of it. By the time I fiddle around with the set up, I can do quite a few by hand. I strongly recommend you have use 2 routers.

I agree on learning to do them by hand. They are not so difficult but you need a decent saw and chisels, something some people aren't willing to invest in, unfortunately.

The closest I come to machine cut is doing the bevelled table saw trick for the tails, and cut pins by hand, but only if I have a bunch to do.

But, to answer your question, I would use 1/2" material, b/c that's what you're mostly going to use for drawers. Don't use plywood.

[Bob Vaughan]

I want to play with my new Porter Cable dovetail jig. I have never used one before. Is there a certain thickness of board that's any easier than another thickness? Something a beginner should start out with?

Thanks  Greg

About anything from 1/2" to 3/4" will do for practice.  For real drawer construction I've gravitated to 3/4" fronts and 5/8" sides and back.  That combo seems to make a more rigid drawer. 

   

   

[Bill Tindall]

About anything from 1/2" to 3/4" will do for practice.  For real drawer construction I've gravitated to 3/4" fronts and 5/8" sides and back.  That combo seems to make a more rigid drawer. 

Attractive piece.  I have never used your means of holding and guiding the drawers.  Hence questions.  Does it have a name?  What consideration leads to where to put the runner- top , bottom or in between?

[Willyou]

While you are practicing, you might try my method for simplifying the drawer making process. I eliminate the dovetails at the back corners of the drawers and use rabbet and dado joints there instead. Then, when cutting the front dovetails, I start by ripping the pieces extra width by maybe two pin widths. When setting up for the cuts, I align the work pieces to the same template fingers by eye and make the cuts. After the cuts are made, I fit the pieces together and mark where they need to be ripped to final width and alignment. This is far easier and just as strong. Appearance wise, no one ever sees the rear joints anyway.

[Tapper]

While you are practicing, you might try my method for simplifying the drawer making process. I eliminate the dovetails at the back corners of the drawers and use rabbet and dado joints there instead. Then, when cutting the front dovetails, I start by ripping the pieces extra width by maybe two pin widths. When setting up for the cuts, I align the work pieces to the same template fingers by eye and make the cuts. After the cuts are made, I fit the pieces together and mark where they need to be ripped to final width and alignment. This is far easier and just as strong. Appearance wise, no one ever sees the rear joints anyway.

Agreed, I used this technique on a set of shop drawers (25) I built a couple of years ago. Used dadoes at the rear and also GRK small headed screws to hold the joint together while the glue dried. Filled the holes with walnut plugs for decoration. Worked out nicely. 

I like your idea about cutting the dovetail pattern oversized and then trimming down to final dimension. I used my Incra setup, which again worked out nicely.

Doug

[Bob Vaughan]

Attractive piece.  I have never used your means of holding and guiding the drawers.  Hence questions.  Does it have a name?  What consideration leads to where to put the runner- top , bottom or in between?

That's called 'side hung'.  Its great for getting maximum width in a limited space.
I like to put the drawer groove between two dovetails.  This seems to work.  The one shown above was actually a screwup where I measured between the pins instead of the tails. There seems to be no bad effects.
Below is my preference.

   

[Tapper]

Nice looking work, Bob! Just a quick question - Is there a reason why you located the groove high on the drawer box rather than lower?

Thanks,

Doug