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AKEDA Through Dovetails

Laying out and cutting through dovetails using the AKEDA is about as easy as it gets. Here is the basic procedure:

1. Prepare your stock. Make sure it's flat and the ends are square. Though not essential, it makes sense to rip your parts to increments of 1/8" to facilitate the 1/8" increment of the guide rails.

2. Lay out your dovetails: (Click image to view layout slide show)

   1. Place a work piece in the jig.

   2. Choose a set of TD guide fingers by matching the guide finger angle with the dovetail cutter you plan to use. For example, if you choose the 1/2" 11° cutter, you must use the 11° pin guides.

   3. Lay out the dovetails using the selected pin guide fingers. Place the first finger 1/8" away from the reference punch mark on the guide rail to establish the half-pin. I generally set the other half-pin next. Then, lay out the remaining guides symetrically or asymmetrically, based on the project, appearance,.....

      
      
      

      Best Practices: Mirror the layout on the right side and left side of jig. During the routing operation, always place the bottom edge of the drawer/box against the jig's edge guide. Thus when you rout the work piece, one end is routed at the left side of the jig, the adjacent end is routed at the right side of the jig.

      
      
      

   4. Once the layout is set, place a pencil mark on the pencil ledge to mark the center line of each guide finger. Each guide has a center line to faciliate this.

3. Remove the work piece from the jig. Replace the pin guide fingers with the tail guides, aligning the center of each tail guide to your pencil marks. To ensure the guides are secure for routing, always insert the guides from the bottom, tilting/snapping them up into place.

4. Insert your tail work piece facing away from the operator (towards the back of the jig) and firmly up against the guide fingers and left/right edge stop. Ensure that the work piece end is flat against all of the guide fingers. If the board is not square, it will be impossible to place the board edge against the edge stop and its end flat across all of the guide fingers.

5. Insert a precise 7/16" (.437) guide bushing in your router.

6. Insert the desired dovetail bit in your router. Click here for the AKEDA image of the cutters. Set the cutter depth to the thickness of the guide rail (1/2" or 9/16" depending on your model) plus the thickness of the mating work piece plus 1/64". For example, if you have the 1/2" guide rails and your pin board is 1/2" thick, set the cutter depth to 1-1/64". This adjustment does not affect joint fit, but rather dictates how far the tails will protrude past the pin board.

7. Cut the tails. The guide says to place the face of the tail boards facing away from the operator, towards the jig. This ensures correct tail to pin board orientation. However, you'll tend to get more tearout on the exit cut, which is the face of your project. To avoid tearout, place a backer board under the horizontal clamp, behind the tail board.

   If there is more than a couple of thousandths of an inch clearance between the guide bush and the space between the fork of the guide, I run the bush along the left side of the fork, otherwise the joints tend to be on the loose side. If you don't want to bother thinking about it, and your guide bush is undersize, use the undersized straight bit when cutting the pins.

8. Once the tails are cut, replace the tail guides with the TD pin guides selected earlier, aligning the center mark of the guide to the pencil marks. Again, insert the guides from the bottom, snapping them up into place.

9. Insert your first pin board in the jig, face facing towards the operator.

10. Insert the AKEDA straight cutter in the router and set the cutter depth to the thickness of the guide rail (1/2" or 9/16" depending on your model) plus the thickness of the mating work piece plus 1/64". For example, if you have the 1/2" guide rails and your tail board is 1/2" thick, set the cutter depth to 1-1/64". This adjustment does not affect joint fit, but rather dictates how far the pins will protrude past the tail board.

11. Cut the pins. A shallow right-to-left climb cut across the face will minimize tearout. If your joints are too tight, cut the pins with the undersize guide bushing. If your joints are too loose, cut the pins using the oversize guide bushing.

That's all there is to it. In producing our AKEDA videos, I got to the point where I could setup and machine all four sides of a box in 10 minutes. With one router. Speaking of videos, here is the first draft of our AKEDA Through Dovetail video in Real Media format (Requires Realplayer for Windows or Other Platforms):

Through Dovetails Using the AKEDA DC16 (1.8 MB) (RealMedia)

AKEDA Half-Blind Dovetails

Cutting Half-Blind dovetails using the AKEDA is also very simple. The only step I don't like is coming up with filler pieces to fit between widely spaced tail guides. The supplemental manual suggests that you can cut spacers from the plastic sliding dovetail/housed joint template, which is convenient, but perhaps somewhat expensive ($10 per strip) for the long run.

Kevan Lear's response regarding tail guide spacers:

I always use the front guide rail and dispense with the tail guide spacers, ....I have used the jig so much, I can do it by eye. ....someone else suggested making marks on the front of the jig, in line with the tail guides, where you can see them while you're routing. I've tried it and it works well.

I have followed Kevan's procedure and it works. However, if your machining lots of drawers, I recommend that you bite the bullet and cut the spacers.

I typically use half-blind dovetails to join the sides to the front, and through dovetails to join the sides to the back. The beauty of the AKEDA is that you can use the same tail setup for the through and half-blind dovetails. Also, the appearance of the AKEDA-produced half-blind dovetails are more attractive than those produced in our Omnijig.

The process for cutting half-blind dovetails is as follows:

1. Prepare your stock. I use 3/4" fronts and 1/2" sides and backs, and generally use through dovetails to join the back to the sides. It is essential that your workpieces are flat and square. I found that if the pin-tail socket board is the least bit warped/cupped, the depth of cut will be inconsistent. The joint will fit together fine, but you'll end up with a gap between the end of the tails and the tail socket as shown to the right. Also, though not essential, it makes sense to rip your parts to increments of 1/8" to facilitate the 1/8" increment of the guide rails.

2. Lay out your dovetails as described for the through dovetails. The tails are cut using the common tail guide fingers. The pins are cut using the half-blind pin guide fingers. You cut both the tails and pins using the dovetail cutter. Fit is determined by cutter depth, however other factors can affect the joint fit. These factors include: loose guide bushing, non-concentric cut (caused by dirty collet, bent cutter shaft, worn router bearings, etc.), and incorrect guide bush or cutter diameter. Select the specific AKEDA dovetail cutter as described for the through dovetails. Click here for the AKEDA image of the cutters.

   1. For drawers, I layout the dovetail spacing using the side (tail) board as the guide. Use the HB pin guides (there is only one set, regardless of cutter selected) to lay out the dovetails. Place the first finger 1/8" away from the reference punch mark on the guide rail to establish the half-pin. I generally set the other half-pin next. Then, lay out the remaining guides symetrically or asymmetrically, based on the project, appearance,.....

   2. Once the layout is set, place a pencil mark on the pencil ledge to mark the center line of each finger.

3. Replace the pin guide fingers with the tail guides, aligning the center of each tail guide to your pencil marks. If you prefer to fill the gaps between guide fingers with spacers, do so.

4. Insert a precise 7/16" (.437) guide bushing in your router.

5. Insert the dovetail bit in your router and set its depth. Unlike through dovetails, the tighteness of fit for half-blind dovetails is determined by the depth of the router bit. This may take some trial and error, however, the following table will get you very close:

   Router Bit		Depth 1/2" Rails	Depth 9/16" Rails
   3/4" 7°		1-1/4"	1-5/16"
   5/8" 9°		1-1/8"	1-3/16"
   1/2" 11°		1"	1-1/16"
   3/8" 14°		7/8"	15/16"
   1/4" 20°		3/4"	13/16"

   
   
   

6. Cut the tails. Place the tail board with its face facing away from the operator, towards the jig. This ensures correct tail to pin board orientation. You clamp the HB tail board using the front clamp, but against the front clamp rail, not the rear rail as you would do with through dovetails.

7. The first time through, cut one set of tails and on set of pins and check the fit. Adjust the depth of the router bit as necessary. I measure the gap with a feeler gauge and adjust the depth of the router to half of that. Works for me. (Others say to adjust the router to the full amount of the gap.) If the fit is too loose, adjust your router to take a slightly deeper cut. If the fit is too tight, adjust your router for a shallower cut. If you have trouble getting a satisfactory fit, make sure you're using an AKEDA dovetail cutter and that you started with the settings in the DC16 manual, or the table above.
   
   Since I do not intend to dedicate a router to rout half-blind dovetails with the AKEDA jig, I produced a simple height gauge block as shown in the picture to the right.

8. Once the tails are cut, remove the tail guides and place the left-hand (assuming you're working on the left-hand side) stop pin guide in position for the left-hand half-pins.

9. Adjust the pin stop guides. Use the pin stop guides to ensure that the sides of your drawers are uniformly inset into the tail sockets. I adjust the stops so that the sides are inset by slightly less than 1/64". After trying several procedures, I now use this procedure to adjust the stop guides:
   
   

   1. Place the stop guides in the rear guide rail at the two half-pin positions. Ensure that they are oriented so that the index marks are facing outward. If not, you have the left guide in the right-hand position (and visa versa) and risk running the dovetail cutter into the stop. (By the way, file off the casting flash from the stops to ensure they contact the board correctly.)
      
      Click Here to See Correct Layout      Click Here to See Incorrect Layout
      
   2. Use a pencil to mark the thickness of the side board across one end of the pin-tail socket board.
      
      
   3. Slide the marked end of the tail socket board under the rear horizontal clamp. Extend the board so that your pencil line aligns with the front edge of the rear guide rail.
      
      
   4. Loosen the stop blocks and position them so they contact the end of the tail socket board. Tighten the stops.
   
   

10. Do not change the depth of the dovetail cutter. The same dovetail bit and depth of cut are used to rout both the tail boards and the pin-tail socket boards.

11. Cut the pins (tail sockets). Since your cutting into edge grain when cutting the tail sockets, move the router slowly. Do not make the right-to-left climb cut, as you could lose control of the router.

Here is the first draft of our AKEDA Half-Blind Dovetail video in Real Media format (Requires Realplayer for Windows or Other Platforms):

Half-Blind Dovetails Using the AKEDA DC16 (1.8 MB) (RealMedia)

AKEDA Box Joints

Routing box joints with the AKEDA is very easy to do. My first set of box joints worked perfectly. Routing box joints on the AKEDA is easier than on other dovetail jigs such as the Leigh because you don't have to worry about offsetting mating boards. You place all boards against the end stop, and the standard tail and half-blind pin guide fingers do the rest. Piece of cake really. However, I did run into some problems, and thus have included a few cautions in the text that you must consider. Here is the process I use to cut "uneven" box joints using the AKEDA:

1. Prepare and size your boards. Again make sure they're flat and square. In regards to sizing. This could take volumes so let me distill it to what worked best for me taking efficency and appearance into account. Given that I did not want to move guide fingers during the operation, I decided go with uneven (two widths of) fingers. The "tail" fingers are approximately 5/8" wide, and the corresponding "pin" fingers are approximately 3/8" wide. Prior to actually routing them, I thought they would not look right, but in reality, they look fine. Okay, given that, I set the first guide finger 1/8" from the punch reference point, and positioned the remaining guides shoulder-to-shoulder so to speak.
   
   Caution #1 -- I quickly found that I had a problem. I had not sized the width of the boards (height of the box) to match the minimum spacing of guides. To get the fingers to start and end correctly, I found I had to size the width of the boards in one inch increments, beginning with 1.275" (approx. 1-9/32"). Thus, the sequence of widths would be 1-9/32", 2-9/32", 3-9/32", 4-9/32", and so on. Again, this assumes you are using the standard 3/8" pins, 5/8" tails, and the 1/8" offset from the reference punch--all factors that I decided were best for my eyes and patience with a jig.
   
   

   AKEDA has produced a simple to use Excel spreadsheet for determining the width of boards for uneven box joints. The board widths it states for uneven box joints, using the 1/8" spacing away from the reference punch, are slightly different than mine (2.25, 3.25, 4.25, and so on). Click Here to access the Box Joint Spreadsheet.

2. Place a 7/16" guide bushing in your router. Caution #2 -- Make sure the ID of your guide bushing has adequate clearance for the AKEDA box joint cutter. The box joint cutter OD is .350". The ID of the Leigh precision guide bushing is approximately .355. This is not enough clearance. I know. During my second box, I hit a nasty area of wood that caused all heck to break loose. Probably due to insufficient clearance, vibration, whatever, the bit hit the bushing, and the bushing exploded, expanding and breaking the bushing's walls. The work piece and jig were fine, but the $15 guide bush and my nerves were shot.
   
   After collecting my thoughts, I inserted a second Leigh guide bushing and noticed that the cutter hit it as I rotated the bit. Dang! I measured its ID and it measured approximately .353-.354, but because the guide bush was not perfectly concentric it hit. I measured the ID of my three Porter Cable (PC # 42027) guide bushings, and their IDs (11/32") were too small to work with the box joint bit. Double Dang!! My last option was to use our Bosch 1617 router with its RA1105 7/16" adapter. Its ID was marginally satisfactory. By the way, Bosch recommends a minimum of 1/16" (.060") clearance, which of course I did not have with the AKEDA box joint.
   
   However, while cutting a similar nasty area later in the day, I ran into another problem. Caution #3 -- The Bosch RA1105 guide bushing extends 1/8" (.125") from the router's subbase. This length is marginally acceptable, and too short for my comfort. Furthermore, you can subtract .010 -.020" from that length, since the router actually rides on the AKEDA guide rails, and the guide fingers are approximately .015" lower than the guide rails. Sure enough, later I hit another nasty area, causing the router to raised off the guide rail, ever so slightly (mandatory excuses: I had been using the AKEDA for about 6-7 hours straight, I was tired, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have, I was a bit woozy due to my back drugs, etc.) and with the short guide no longer contacting the finger, I moved the router into one of the guide fingers. My first accident with the AKEDA after 40-60 hours of use. The bottom line, make sure the AKEDA box joint bit clears your guide bushing.
   
   

   Kevan Lear indicates that the AKEDA 7/16" guide bushing has an ID of .385", which should provide adequate clearance for the AKEDA box joint bit.

3. Place the AKEDA box joint cutter in the router and set it to a depth of your guide rails + mating side + 1/64". Again, make sure the bit clears the ID of the guide bushing with room to spare.
   
   
4. For my tastes, I cut the front/backs using the tail guides (use the standard tail guides). Clamp the work piece using the front clamp against the rear clamp bar, with the edge of the workpiece against the edge stop/fence. I cut the "tails" with the work piece facing in, away from the operator. I also gang cut two 1/2" thick work pieces at one time with good success. To avoid tearout/blowout, use a backer board, and do a climb cut on the pin faces.
   
   
5. I cut the box sides using the half-blind pin guides. I cut the "pins" with the work piece facing out, towards the operator. Technically you can gang cut the pins as well, but in my cases the thickness of the pieces caused the combination package to extend to far towards the rounded portion of the guide fingers, leaving a slight round over on the pins. To avoid tearout/blowout, use a backer board, and do a climb cut on the pin faces.
   
   

And that is all there is to it. Given the cautions, you should have no problems cutting box joints using the AKEDA. I cut several boxes in less than 1/2 hour. I have not used the equal width box joints method described in the AKEDA user manual. Furthermore, I find the table saw method for cutting box joints is a bit faster and cleaner, but routing box joints on the AKEDA definitely works and does not require any special setup. If you prefer to rout the more traditional "even" fingers, follow the instructions in the AKEDA User Manual.