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Keeping things straight when cutting joinery

August 8, 2011 By

 

Joinery. Dovetails. Finger joints. Mortise and tenon.

George asked a question

How do I keep the board orientation throughout a project, to make sure the project comes out right without redoing any part of the joinery?

It is extremely helpful to know which side of a board will be oriented to the inside of a box, once the box is assembled. When finger joints are the joinery, it is not critical, as the boards will fit no matter how the boards are assembled; the only requirement is that the finger board match the socket board. On the other hand, the craftsman must be vigilant when dovetails are the joinery. This is why properly marking the surfaces is critical.

For example, I clearly mark the outer surface of the pins boards, to ensure I place the board on the jig properly:

Marked side of board when cutting dovetails

See the little square with the funny little triangle “below” the square? That is the way I learned to mark the boards — it is the icon recommended by Leigh in their User Guide. I learned to use this little icon on the first day I used the old D4 dovetail jig, close to ten years ago. And I still use it today, as I respond to it immediately when reading the side of the board. But about 5 years ago I also started writing the board orientation. If you thought I miscut that a board, you are correct; I started writing the orientation, because I had erased the little icon almost completely, and inserted the board wrong-side-out. Fortunately, I was able to cut off the pins off that board, and the result was a slightly narrower box (a blanket chest).

The following image will give a more complete picture (pardon the pun…) of the complete markings I use on a project — and how I re-mark the boards as I handle them, to ensure I execute the joinery properly:

Marking sides of boards when cutting dovetails

I hope this helps other woodworkers as they use their jigs. And I thank George in South Carolina for asking how I do it.

Now, YOU

What precautions do YOU take to make sure the boards stay oriented properly?

 

— Al Navas

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, D4R Pro, Design, Dovetails, Education, Jigs, Joinery Tagged With: , ,

Using a dovetail jig to align edges on work pieces

April 22, 2011 By

Working with large glued-up panels to make a piece of furniture can be a challenge. But we can use the jig used to cut the joinery to our advantage, to get perfect edge registration. That is what I did when building the cradle. One reader asked how I did it; I explain below, using a few photographs. Click on all images to enlarge them.

The sides of the cradle were 37 inches long – I cut all the joinery on these boards using the Leigh D4R dovetail jig:

Cutting the pins on one of the sides.

This is the view as I looked at one of the side boards, after cutting the pins – notice the tapered fingers on the finger assembly point toward the user (to cut the tails, the finger assembly will be turned such that the rounded edges of the finger assembly point toward the user):

The pins cut; now to align the head and foot boards.


Since both the head panel and the foot panel are curved, they cannot be placed against the side stop on the dovetail jig; they must be placed far enough from the stops to ensure the curve allows perfect alignment of the edge of the panel under the finger assembly of the jig. The foot and head panels are perfectly vertical once the cradle is assembled; which makes edge alignment easy. In creating the layout on the finger assembly I made sure I stayed well away from the side stops on the jig.

To accomplish perfect edge registration, I clamped one of the curved panels in the jig, and inserted the already-cut pins (the side panels) into the tails side of the finger assembly, until they “locked” in the fingers. Then I moved the curved panel until the edge registered perfectly on the edge of the side panel, and marked the position on the backer board under the finger assembly.

The following photo will make this a bit clearer – you can see the pencil marks on the white oak board, at the edges of the curved panel under the finger assembly (the clamp bar is straight – the curvature is the result of the wide angle setting on the lens of the camera):

Using the D4R jig to align the tails boards.

The dovetails on the edge of the curved panels are cut on the edge registered for its corresponding edge of the side panels. It was just a simple matter to keep track of which edge corresponded with which other edge.

I am a firm believer in using the tools to get better accuracy. This worked well, and the edges of the cradle aligned perfectly.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, D4R Pro, Design, Dovetails, Jigs, Joinery Tagged With: , , ,

An easy glue-up with great results

April 7, 2011 By

Preparation for the cradle glue-up involved several dry runs, to cover every eventuality that might come up. In the end I did not use cauls on the corners, as the I have cork on the clamp heads:

Cradle glue-up image: an easy glue-up!

I cannot remember a previous glue-up of a large carcase going as smoothly as this one. Not only did the joinery slide nicely and easily, but it was tight. And all corners were perfectly square:

Making sure everything is square.

 

I used blue tape to hold in place the thin spacers I made to get proper spacing for the shiplapped boards:

Blue tape holds the spacers between the bottom boards.

Now that everything is in place I can drill the sides and shape the handles. I wanted the entire carcase assembled so I can get the center of gravity accurately. In my opinion this is required, as I always like the client to not have any surprises when lifting an item. If the center of gravity is off, it can result in unpleasant results and even injury if the cradle or other heavy item tilts unexpectedly.

Stand by for further work. As I near completion, I can feel the crescendo that normally peaks as I apply the last coats of finish on a project. My hands are itching to get to the finishing process to get this one ready, in the event the baby calls early!

Read more articles on the build of this cradle by clicking on this link.

— Al Navas

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Filed Under: Blog, Design, Dovetails, Joinery Tagged With: , , ,

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