Wanted Dovetail guide wanted - Katz Moses or similar

[benhen31]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a dovetail guide - ideally the Katz-Moses one, but open to others. 1:8 ratio if possible.

Considered buying the Katz-Moses one but the postage to UK + customs duty puts it at over £40 which feels like a bit much.

So if you've got one that's surplus to requirements I'd be happy to purchase it!

Thanks,
Ben.

 

[benhen31]

Also just discovered the Dave Barron one, so that would be great too.

 

[Jarno]

Hello Ben, somebody here posted a workalike of the KM jig which can be 3d printed. Maybe that is an option?

https://www.printables.com/model/199398-dovetail-saw-jigs-for-hand-cut-dovetails

 

[pgrbff]

Also just discovered the Dave Barron one, so that would be great too.

Dave Barron pop up on eBay occasionaly.

 

[benhen31]

Dave Barron pop up on eBay occasionaly.

Been keeping my eye out on eBay but not seen anything yet. just the Veritas one for nearly £100!
Fingers crossed.

 

[benhen31]

Hello Ben, somebody here posted a workalike of the KM jig which can be 3d printed. Maybe that is an option?

https://www.printables.com/model/199398-dovetail-saw-jigs-for-hand-cut-dovetails

That looks like it would do the job. Alas, I am no 3d printerer. If someone who is wants to have a go I'd be happy to pay for the materials etc.

 

[af99]

Hello Ben,

I have the 8:1 and 6:1 KM jigs that I would be willing to sell. They are barely used. I thought I would learn how to do dovetails during lockdown, but didn't get very far. Message me if you are interested.

-Adam

 

[benhen31]

Hello Ben,

I have the 8:1 and 6:1 KM jigs that I would be willing to sell. They are barely used. I thought I would learn how to do dovetails during lockdown, but didn't get very far. Message me if you are interested.

-Adam

Message incoming!

 

[benhen31]

Still looking for the 1:8 if anyone has one spare...

 

[ColinDeVelen]

I made mine from a bit of angle aluminium. Work perfectly well, and you can make other ratios as needed, as well as making the guides for mitered dovetails, saddle squares etc. All you need is a protractor, a hack saw and something to smooth the edges with. You can also make them at different widths so that you can create different proportioned tails. So you can use two different guides to get wider / narrower tails. That also takes away a lot of the measuring and marking and planning too. Photo below was from the first time I made these, I have many more now

 

[Dr Al]

That looks like it would do the job. Alas, I am no 3d printerer. If someone who is wants to have a go I'd be happy to pay for the materials etc.

I can print that for you (it's my design by the way) if you cover filament cost (will probably be < £1) and postage and you don't mind gluing your own magnets in (I haven't got any of the right size at the moment)

 

[benhen31]

I can print that for you (it's my design by the way) if you cover filament cost (will probably be < £1) and postage and you don't mind gluing your own magnets in (I haven't got any of the right size at the moment)

That would be awesome, thank you! I'll send you a message.

 

[benhen31]

I made mine from a bit of angle aluminium. Work perfectly well, and you can make other ratios as needed, as well as making the guides for mitered dovetails, saddle squares etc. All you need is a protractor, a hack saw and something to smooth the edges with. You can also make them at different widths so that you can create different proportioned tails. So you can use two different guides to get wider / narrower tails. That also takes away a lot of the measuring and marking and planning too. Photo below was from the first time I made these, I have many more now

Those do look pretty useful. I like the idea of the magnets to keep the saw in line though. Do you find a need?

 

[ColinDeVelen]

No need for that. Use them to mark the lines, then saw. They are really only for marking out the guide line. If you don't follow it exactly, that's OK. Just as long as you are cutting square on the top, it will all work out. There are multiple different videos and methods out there, but they ALL rely on cutting square across. Practice that as much as you can, get proficient at it without using a guide (they become a crutch that you can't get rid of after a while), and you will be well on your way. That also helps for other cuts too, not just tails and pins. Tenons, straight and square. Lap joints, straight and square. Bridle joints, straight and square.

 

[TRITON]

The ore you do the easier they become and the better they look. It is a pain in the bum job, it does take up a lot of time, a lot of marking out, but it is the epitome of the trade.

Some you can machine cut but others you really need to hand cut.

 

[Jarno]

Started out sawing everything to a line, with no jig, produced OK dovetails with a bit of care from the start. Do have the occasional project where I just need to take more care, gaps, reversed parts etc.
With a jig, my dovetails certainly look neater, and they do remove the need to take extra care, especially if you also offset the saw set (the cosman shawn shim way).
I really like the katz moses saw guide with magnets, it just works really well.
Recommended to give it a try, printed one myself, rather than using the original.

 

[Inspector]

Is the guide similar to the ones Lee Valley sell?

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...eritas-dovetail-saw-guide-system?item=05T0212
Pete

 

[benhen31]

Is the guide similar to the ones Lee Valley sell?

https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/sho...eritas-dovetail-saw-guide-system?item=05T0212
Pete

It is, similar idea. The Katz Moses one is transparent so you can see through, and doesn't have the clamp - you just hold it against the wood. Here's Matt Estlea comparing the DB and KM ones. and showing the usage.

 

[Dr Al]

No need for that. Use them to mark the lines, then saw. They are really only for marking out the guide line. If you don't follow it exactly, that's OK. Just as long as you are cutting square on the top, it will all work out. There are multiple different videos and methods out there, but they ALL rely on cutting square across. Practice that as much as you can, get proficient at it without using a guide (they become a crutch that you can't get rid of after a while), and you will be well on your way.

I found the dovetail jigs really useful for building confidence and practising the other aspects of the joinery process (marking out, chiselling to the line etc).

My 3D-printed dovetail guides deal with all the sawing aspects (both for the tails and the pins) so you don't have to worry about cutting square across. For the tails, you can line it up with a pencil mark or don't bother and just plonk it on the board somewhere that looks good. For the pins, you line it up with the knife mark and get sawing.

On my most recent project I haven't used the dovetail guides at all and have made some really nice tight dovetails, but that needed me to work on my sawing technique a lot more before I had the confidence to do it.

As a beginner, you've got a lot of things you're trying to learn all at the same time. The dovetail jigs reduce the number of things you have to learn in one go so you can get good at board preparation, marking out and chiselling and then when you've mastered that, you can ditch the dovetail jigs and just focus on sawing.

 

[RobNichols]

I've got a Katz Moses dovetail guide that I don't use. I'm off for the weekend but can dig it out when I get home: Sunday/Monday.