2019 RV/Boat

Progress has been slow this week.  A broken table lock handle on the jointer, failing brushes on the planer motor and fighting the dovetail jig has challenged me.  The jointer handle had a plastic serration that failed.  Fortunately, a common hex head bolt fixed that problem.  The motor brushes haven't completely crapped out yet on the planer while replacements are back ordered and I've had a breakthrough with the dovetailing system.

Anyway, I put together a couple slabs this week to create the lower shelf.  I'll cut to size at final assembly.

Now for the drawers.

I struggled with the Rockler dovetail jig that I've used in the past, but thought I had it all adjusted to give me a good joint.  The stops on the jig are made from plastic and have a tendancy to flex when clamped into position.  Here, I'm cutting the stock for a half blind dovetail.

The completed cut.

So, I completed all the cuts and had decent results...EXCEPT for one "darned" (mild public language) corner!  Ugh!

The results weren't terrible, but I know better is possible and better is what I'd like to accomplish.

...so...

Dad gave me a Leigh dovetail jig a couple years ago and it may be time to experiment with that device.  I was able to get enough info online to give me a good idea of how this thing all works.  Dad still has a few parts of this thing but I thought I had everything that is necessary to get this job completed.

I hauled it out and mounted it to a base so I could clamp it down to the work table.

I planed another pile of lumber to the thickness I needed.  The planer motor made it through another 15 minutes of operation, although I did have to spin the motor shaft to get it going this time.

After sizing a couple pieces of stock to drawer dimensions, it was time for the trial with the Leigh jig.

The first step is to adjust the jig fingers to give the desired spacing on the dovetail sockets.  This is one feature that is far superior to the Rockler jig.  Any pattern is possible with the infinate adjustment of the Leigh jig fingers.

The completed cut creating the pin sockets.

Then the mating piece in installed on the top surface of the jig and the finger assembly flipped to create the pin cutting setup.

The completed cut for the pins.

The initial trial showed that the pins were too shallow and one of the cuts had a slight angle that created a small gap on the pin at the left in the picture. 

If the stock cuts aren't exactly square and the stops on the jig lined up, these imperfections occur.
It's a trial and error process to tune in the joint.  After adjusting the depth of cut on the router (this adjusts the tightness of the joint) and the stops on the jig...3 times...I had the result I was looking for.  This is a nice joint.  I'm sold on the new jig and will use it for all dovetails in the future.

Now to make a new drawer.