HB Dovetails don't fit -- HELP!

[Mike in Idaho]

Hi,

I have the Leigh dovetail jig and I practiced on some scrap and the joint came out perfect the first time. I'm cutting 1/2" long tails and the sockets on the pin board are 1/2" deep (I don't move the bit so that makes sense). The only adjustment I could see that you can make on the template is to move it forward or back which only changes the depth of the pin sockets, not the width of the sockets (or tails).

My problem is when I went to put the tails in the sockets they were too wide and ended up getting crushed (pine) instead of sliding in like the scrap test piece did.

Another thing worth noting is that I changed the finger layout for the final piece (it was wider) but did not change it between cutting the tails and the pins.

HELP!!

Thanks, Mike

[Lowell Holmes]

Rob Cosman shows chamfering the hidden edge of the tails with a chisel. He doesn't chamfer the whole distance of the tail, he leaves about 1/8" not chamfered. This will minimize crushing the pins when assembling the dovetails. I tried it on white pine and it worked really good! I don't see why it wouldn't work on machine cut dovetails as well.

I have the Leigh jig as well.

[Toller]

I just had the same problem. My router bit was extended too far. When I brought it up a tad everything was fine.

[Leon]

In case you did not see the relies to you outer post here is my solution again..

Ok, with any jig that is this style, if your tails are being crushed during assembly, you are cutting too deep. For looser fitting joints make a shallower cut. Too loose, cut deeper.

The problem is that you are cutting too deep and this makes the slots too narrow. If you raise the bit to cut shallower the slots will widen and the tails will be narrower. When you get it just right always use this depth of cut for "this" bit. If you buy another bit of the same size, start with this depth setting and adjust from there.

And by the way... as you know now, you cannot reroute blind dove tails. Once cut, that's it. Work on scraps until the fit is right.

[Mike in Idaho]

Leon (and Toller),

Thanks for your reply (again -- for whatever reason my news server didn't download any of the responses, weird). I'll definitely keep that in mind for the future (guess my luck on the first try wasn't good luck since it made me think I didn't need to do anything to get the fit correct). I'll use the chisel for now since I've cut these on my final wood and I like the drawer front pattern the wood presents and I don't want to start over.

Thanks, Mike

[Leslie G]

Same thing here.

Leslie

[Mike in Idaho]

That was it. Of course since I was cutting the final drawer pieces and don't want to use different stock (I like the grain patterns) I got lots of practice paring the tails with my chisel. Ended up being good practice. By the time I got to the 2nd side I was WAY faster and more proficient (except for the part when my brother-in-law called and I kept paring while on the phone and stuck the chisel in my pinky -- at least it was sharp, it didn't hurt, just bled everywhere -- DOH!).

Thanks everyone, Mike