Hello Keith, I will try to help you understand some of these joints and how you might create them. I assume if you have router bits that you also have a router. I wonder if you have a plunge router and what other tools you may have. Some joints like dados and rabbets can as easily be made with a table saw as can a finger or box joint with the right jig.
You specified : Dovetail Blind Dovetail Box Joint Basic Dado Lap Joint Locked Rabbet Drawer Joint Dovetail A dove tail joint is when one end of a board meets at right angles with the end of another board such as when the side of a drawer meets the front of a drawer where there are tails or short pegs cut in the end of the side of the drawer. These pegs are wider at their ends and narrow as they approach the rest of the side board of the drawer. Between them then there are spaces which are wider and narrow as they approach the ends of the pegs. These pegs are called the tails and give their name as they look the shape of the tail of a pigeon or dove. Pins are cut in the edge of the drawer face to fit between the tails. If these pins are the full thickness of the face of the drawer then the joint is known as an open dove tail. This sort is often used on the corner of a cabinet where the contrasting end grain on both sides of the joint can be visually striking and of course the joint is very strong particularly in one direction. The number of gluing surfaces provide great sticking capability, a very strong joint to be sure. Blind Dovetail If the pins are not cut the full depth of the face of the drawer or joining piece so that the tails fit into pockets the joint is known as a blind dove tail. This too is a very strong joint, can be equally strong or even mor secure than the through dove tail but you won't see the tips of the tails out the front of the drawer. The bit you will use is known as a dove tail bit. You will recognize it by the shape, the shape of a dove tail. It is wider at the end of the cutter and tapers in toward the shaft. They come in a few sizes generally about half an inch across the end but there are a couple of common angles. The angle mostly is a question of taste. Most of the jigs, maybe all of the jigs also require that you instal a collar in the base of your router. This is like a washer filling in the hole in the middle of the router base plate with a sleeve projecting down at least a quarter of an inch below the plate through which you instal the router bit. You follow the teeth of a comb with this collar which guides the bit in and out of the work. There are various jigs for guiding a router to cut dove tail joints the least expensive and most durable and easily used by the blind in my opinion only properly cut blind dove tail joints but I don't have sufficient experience to say for certain that the more sophisticated jigs can't be used efficiently by the blind. This is often a question of just what is meant by use. Doubtless there is a way to use them all just as there is a way to fly an microlite aeroplane from England to Australia with a pilot in the back seat to land you and guide you around runways and to fuel pumps and watch that you don't fly into the path of other aircraft. I hope to be able to investigate the more sophisticated jigs within the next several months and maybe then will be better able to comment. If anyone else has I would love to hear of it. The more sophisticated jigs will allow you to alter size and spacing of the tails, leaving gaps if necessary for specific features and all that. Box Joint A box joint or finger joint is similar to a dove tail except that the pins have straight edges and are of equal width and spacing and depth. They fit together much like interspacing your fingers. These are often used to connect the edges of boxes. They do provide a load of glue surface but don't lock in quite the same way as a dove tail. They can nevertheless be very attractive and if they really need tight locking sometimes a hole will be bored at the junction of a pair of pins and a dowel glued and banged in maybe even in both directions at different points to really lock the corner up solidly. A dove tail jig can be used to produce this joint using a half inch straight edge bit through a collar. If you have room you set adjoining boards vertically offset by the width of a pin and cutting them together. You can also make a box joint jig to be used in conjunction with the miter gauge of a table saw or a router table appropriately sized for the pins and spaces you will want. If doing this on a router table you are limited by the size of cutters available. You may have more flexibility using a table saw with a dado set which can be nearly infinitely variable. Basic Dado I learned recently or maybe relearned that a dado is a flat bottomed groove running across the direction of the grain while the same thing running with the grain is called a groove. If you cut a flat bottomed groove say across the inside of a shelving unit then slide a shelf into that groove you have made a dado joint. These are often used to fit the rear of a drawer into the sides along with a number of other types. With a router you might get lucky and be able to select a straight edge bit exactly the width you need, if not then select a slightly smaller one and widen the dado by moving the cut a little. Depending on the depth you need to cut you may have to make the cut in deepening passes. In a router table you may be able to use the fence to guide your work depending on the distance from the edge and assuming a parallel to edge groove. You may be able to use one of those guide fences attached to the base of a free-hand router or you may prefer to clamp a batten or straight edge to guide the router. There are also several ways to make jigs for this purpose as well. A stopped dado is one where you plunge the router part way into the distance and maybe raise it before the end so as to hide the ends where the mating piece comes to the edge or where the mating piece is narrower as for example a shelf which does not come all the way to the front of a cabinet and you don't wish to show the dado. You will have to square up the ends with a chisel or round over the edge of the inserted piece to make this sort fit. This is similar to a sliding or locking dovetail only instead of using a straight bit in the router you use a dove tail bit to cut the flat bottom groove which will have walls which expand toward the bottom of the groove. You will then have to cut matching edges on the shelf and slide the shelf into the groove. This sort might be used to hold the front of a drawer to the walls or the rear of the drawer between the walls. Even without glue these joints can be wonderful but they need precise cutting and when glued the wood will break before the joint will fail. Using a table saw you would use a dado set to cut dados. Stopped or blind dados are a little more difficult to cut with a table saw but not impossible, I have done it many times and I have even done it with a hand-held circular saw by making several passes moving the saw about the width of the blade over with each pass. This usually wants a little cleaning up with a chisel when done. Lap Joint There are a couple of varieties of lap joint and probably they all require some mechanical fixing in addition to glue. A half lap joint is when you cut away half the thickness of the end of a board the length of the width of a board you will join it too for example and lay it over another cut half way through with the width of the original board so one is recessed into the other. Doesn't have to be half of course depending on how much structural strength you wish. This method is often used for building gates because the shoulders of the slot can support a board against it's cheeks and help reduce racking off square.Nails or screws will usually have to be used to reinforce such a joint. Sometimes this joinery will be used for making face frames for cabinets or where boards will cross as in an 'X' formation but must preserve a flat surface. Ship lapping is where a rabbet is cut on the edges but on opposite faces of boards so that they overlap but still lay flat. A router with straight cutting bits can be used for these sorts of joints and a ship lap edge can certainly be cut with a straight edge bit and guide or fence in a table or with a special rabbet bit which has a pilot bit which is smaller in diameter than the cutter and which follows the edge of the board. The larger lap joints will require several passes with a router, I more usually cut them with a table saw or a circular saw plowing out several cuts and cleaning up with a chisel. Locked Rabbet Drawer Joint I used these for making drawers a lot many years ago when all I had was a table saw. You remove a large sort of rabbet across the inside face at each end of a drawer front but extend the floor deeper toward the center of the drawer front forming an under cut of the wall of the rabbet. this leaves a short tongue. On the inside very near the end of the side wall of the drawer you cut a dado the width of the tongue and the distance from the end of the drawer wall which is the thickness of the under cut. You then slip the dado over the tongue and glue it up with a brad or two to reinforce the joint. This dado though is fairly fragile remembering that it is thin and across end grain. There are a couple of router bits which can help you with this cut, there is a 'T' slot bit which cuts a wider end than the wall and of course thin and wide straight cutters. I hope all this is helpful in understanding the various joints of interest. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Christian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 5:00 PM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] cutting dove tails > Hello, > > I would be interested in learning how to make different kinds of joints. > Are there some basic jigs that help you create a variety of joints for > making drawers, boxes, shelves, etc? > > I have a good selection of router bits. I just don't know what they all > do and what kinds of joints I can make with them. Many of the bits have > a bearing on the end, while many others do not. > > Below are some joints that I would like to learn more about. I'd like > to know what they are used for, how they are made, and what jigs are > available to help a blind guy make them. > > Dovetail > Blind Dovetail > Box Joint > Basic Dado > Lap Joint > Locked Rabbet Drawer Joint > > Ray Boyce sent an article to the list that made me want to understand > different types of joints and how to make them. Thanks, > > Keith > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens > Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 12:18 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] cutting dove tails > > > > Hi Lenny, > > I use a bench top jig. I am sorry I can't tell you the brand right off > hand > there are a few very similar, I think I have the manual up stairs so > next > time I stump up there I'll have a look for it. > > This is not the sort which allows through dove tails or adjustable ones, > I > am not sure the blind can use those satisfactorily, when I hear Norm use > his > on the New Yankee Workshop he speaks of registering his with a scale and > you > need both a dove tail bit and a straight bit to use them. You will know > them > because instructions are that you flip the comb over to cut the pins. Be > > sure I don't know that we can't use those jigs but I haven't had one in > my > hands to assess it. At over a hundred and fifty bucks I have been > reluctant > to buy one on spec. > > What I have then is a free-hand used jig. You mount it at the edge of a > work > bench so that the wall of a drawer say can be fitted against the front > edge > and hang below the edge of the bench. There is a cam lock clamp > arrangement > with a spring return which you have to adjust to the thickness of the > wall > to clamp it vertically into place. You place the wall good side in > against > the face of the jig than slide it to one or other edge of this clamp > depending on which wall you are cutting. There is a vertical stop to > align > the edge of the wall at each edge of the jig to help aline and get it > vertical. > > There is a similar arrangement at the top of the jig. You slide the > front or > rear of the drawer horizontally under the top clamp and against a stop > on > one or other side of the top surface until the end comes against the > wall > already installed in the front clamp. Again it is front face down. You > make > your adjustments as necessary so that the top of the front edge is flush > > with the inside face of the front member of the drawer. If both are snug > > against the stops and the stops are accurately set the edges will be > offset > half an inch. > > There is a comb with slots at half inch intervals which lies over the > junction of the side wall and front face boards. > > You instal a collar into the base plate of your router and your dove > tail > cutter then just gently follow the teeth of the comb with the collar in > the > router. The cutter cuts out the space between the tails on the side wall > and > the space between the pins on the back side of the front panel at the > same > time. > > You reverse the top, that is the front member and slide it against the > opposite side stop and you place the other side member into the front > clamp > against the opposite side stop to make the dove tails for the other side > of > the drawer and of course a similar thing for the rear. > > I use short bits of duct tape to mark sides near one end so I don't get > them > mixed up. > > This sort of jig is only good for about 14 inches I think and I did > recently > have a project which wanted more so I changed to using a miter with > biscuits. I would have preferred the dove tail just for showing off. > > There are a couple of other adjustments, you need to cut to a fixed > distance > and there is a fence for that and cutting a few test pieces, the depth > of > the cutter will determine how tight the joint will be, you don't want it > too > tight. > > You might like a load of scrap to reduce any risk of tear-out along the > edges although this is the inside face of the side so mostly hidden. > > I haven't used my big Triton router for this and don't think I would > like to > but my little Porter Cable does work well. I would really like to get my > > hands on the fancier jig, you can set different spacing which can be > attractive or even practical where your joint isn't a multiple of half > inches. > > Hope this is helpful, I will find out the make I just don't recall and I > am > still very much limiting my trips up stairs for now. > > Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:DLeavens%40puc.net> net > Skype DaleLeavens > Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lenny McHugh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:lmchugh%40verizon.net> > net> > To: "Handyman-Blind" <blindhandyman@ > <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 10:20 AM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] cutting dove tails > >> Dale, >> A while back you mentioned that you were cutting dove tails. I would > like >> to know what equipment that you are using? >> Also does the jig require a free hand router or do you invert it on a >> router table? >> I have been toying with the idea for a while but so far hadn't really > had >> the need. >> Lenny http://www.geocitie <http://www.geocities.com/lenny_mchugh/> > s.com/lenny_mchugh/ >> >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> >> >> >> To listen to the show archives go to link >> http://acbradio. <http://acbradio.org/handyman.html> org/handyman.html >> or >> ftp://ftp.acbradio. > <ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/> > org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. >> http://www.acbradio > <http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday> > .org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday >> >> The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. >> http://www.gcast. <http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml> > com/u/cookingindark/main.xml >> >> Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From > Various >> List Members At The Following address: >> http://www.jaws- <http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/> > users.com/handyman/ >> >> Visit the new archives page at the following address >> http://www.mail- > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/> > archive.com/[email protected]/ >> For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy > Man >> list just send a blank message to: >> blindhandyman- <mailto:blindhandyman-help%40yahoogroups.com> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG Free Edition. >> Version: 7.1.413 / Virus Database: 268.18.17/730 - Release Date: >> 22/03/2007 >> >> > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various > List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ > > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.413 / Virus Database: 268.18.17/730 - Release Date: > 22/03/2007 > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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