Angled through-dovetails!
I'm making a doll cradle for LOML Jr. This is a pretty cool technique, I think -- even if it does only have very limited application... :roll:
For the curious, here's basically how it's done:
First of all, you rout the pins first, instead of the tails first. Of course, this requires that you know ahead of time what the proper pin width setting is for the stock you're using. Just a test cut on a cutoff piece was all it took to determine this. The workpiece is positioned away from the left stop, to allow clearance for the angled tail board... hopefully this will make sense later. A pencil line on the jig itself marks the left position of the board.
As soon as the pins are cut out, one of the jig guides is chosen to make a mark for alignment. The center line of this guide is transfered onto the center of the tail on the board:
This is repeated for all four corners. The pencil line is then transferred onto the tails board:
This line is then used to line up the tails board with the SAME jig guide that was used to make the mark in the first place:
Then the tails are routed as usual:
Clear as mud?!?!?!? I've got to admit, I wasn't convinced that this would work at all until about 2/3 the way through... :lol: I still have to shape the head and foot profiles, put in a bottom panel, and maybe I'll try a little inlay! (feeling confident now!)
I'm making a doll cradle for LOML Jr. This is a pretty cool technique, I think -- even if it does only have very limited application... :roll:
For the curious, here's basically how it's done:
First of all, you rout the pins first, instead of the tails first. Of course, this requires that you know ahead of time what the proper pin width setting is for the stock you're using. Just a test cut on a cutoff piece was all it took to determine this. The workpiece is positioned away from the left stop, to allow clearance for the angled tail board... hopefully this will make sense later. A pencil line on the jig itself marks the left position of the board.
As soon as the pins are cut out, one of the jig guides is chosen to make a mark for alignment. The center line of this guide is transfered onto the center of the tail on the board:
This is repeated for all four corners. The pencil line is then transferred onto the tails board:
This line is then used to line up the tails board with the SAME jig guide that was used to make the mark in the first place:
Then the tails are routed as usual:
Clear as mud?!?!?!? I've got to admit, I wasn't convinced that this would work at all until about 2/3 the way through... :lol: I still have to shape the head and foot profiles, put in a bottom panel, and maybe I'll try a little inlay! (feeling confident now!)