On Mon, 25 May 2009 19:02:24 -0700, Mark & Juanita
wrote:


I've had this jig for a good 4 or so years and have primarily used it for
1/2 blind dovetails for drawers. Every time I use it, I spend a great deal
of time getting it set up and in the past have finally "settled" for as
good as I can get. I decided not to settle this time and have spent a
great deal of time trying to get the jig to provide me with gap-free 1/2
blind joints. I get the part about adjustment up and down loosening or
tightening the joint. The problems I am having are getting gaps on the
*side* of some of the joints, and the bottom gaps when adjusting tightness
not being even across the width of the board (only 3 1/4") despite the fact
that the fingers are flat on the pin board and the spacer board and the
tail board is uniform across the width of the spacer board. I've tried
recentering the router bit (one of the reasons I bought template bases for
my Bosch laminate trim router was so I could easily center the bushing),
I've tried swapping jig fingers (now I've got a bit of springiness when
tightening the finger jig because of having to remove the ends). I've tried
rotating the router 180 degrees to rout the pins after routing the pins.
Nothing seems to be helping much.

Next thought is lapping the router baseplate dead flat. I've been trying
to hold it flat to the center, but am getting rocking. Would a 5 mil rock
cause significant problems?

Any help would be appreciated. As a pre-emptive, the answer, "just chop
them by hand" is not an answer I'm seeking -- I'm really trying to figure
out why this machine is not working as advertised.


I've used what may be an older version of this jig for quite a few
years, in its 24" version and have had no problems with it.

Will admit that I set up the left side for my stock height short
drawers and the right side for the taller ones. Used the middling
version of Loctite on the screws.

Used a full width backer and fillers, so that the clamping comes out
even.

Router set up is a 3 hp Porter Cable and the cutters are CMT's.

Have not had fit problems but that may be because I mic my pieces
coming out of the planer.

Remember having some blowout problems when I started with the jig but
the waste board cured that.

Have had good results on multiple runs using this method but stock
prep for flatness and thickness has been critical.

Only problems that I've had were from not setting the router dead flat
throughout the cut.









Regards,

Tom Watson
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1/