Dovetail Jig advice please

[Redhill Red]

Hi all,
Just bought a Axminster dovetail jig, only ordered yesterday and arrived before 9 '0' clock this morning, Well done Axminster!. First impression on opening the box was excellent bit of kit for the price and the instructions were very clear and hence within a hour of starting was cutting my first joint.

After only a couple of adjustments the joints were fitting perfect, well nearly perfect, the only query I have is how much of the bearing depth on the cutter should be in contact with the template?

At the moment when cutting only about 1mm of the bearing runs in the template and although this works fine i feel it does not leave much room for error if the router is tipped slightly. has anyone else noticed this or am I being paranoid.

Apart from this i am very pleased with it and for £45 i think it is excellent value.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Red

Firstly, sorry about Forest.

Sorry if this smells of eggs and grannies, but are you using a guide bush on the router? It doesn't sound as though you are.

Sorry if I've misunderstood.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Redhill Red]

Neil did you have to remind me of the "Mighty Reds"?,

If i remember rightly Neil you are a Coventry fan, I recently spent a miserable night at Highfield Road where we managed to make the Sky Blues look like Brazil!

Anyway back to woodworking, the Axminster jig as I understand (Imay be wrong) uses a bearing guided cutter to follow the template.

I've just re read the instructions and there is no mention of guide bushes, but then what do I know, I still think Forest will stay up.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Red

No, I'm a cardiff fan. Having lived in Nottingham since Forest were winning European Cups, I really feel for all of the supporters.

Now about this jig. It must be different to the Trend because that works with a guide bush and you just follow the template. It is important that you keep the router upright.

If you make a shallow straight cut from right to left (do not follow the template) it should stop any breakout. You can then make your dovetail cut from left to right.

I hope I explained this properly.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Redhill Red]

Hi Neil ,
Thanks for the advice and sorry to mistake you for a Sky Blue :?

But that reminds me of an even worse day at Cardiff in January and the end of yet another manager, Oh well at least I've got me new dovetail jig to play with!

 

[Philly]

RR
Have you tried re-positioning the bearing? On most cutters you can loosen a grub screw and slide the bearing around. Can you do this with yours??
You definitely want good contact between the bearing and the combs of the jig.
HTH
Philly

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Red

But that reminds me of an even worse day at Cardiff in January and the end of yet another manager.

I think we did you a favour by consigning JK to history. I'm a great fan of Gary Megson and I think he will sort the club out.

Good luck
Neil

 

[Guest]

I think somewhere in the manual it mentions shimming up the cutter guide to counter this problem. I tried it on mine and it worked. You will have to lower the cutter in the router so use a shim you know the size of.

 

[Dewy]

Hi red.
Some jigs use a guide bush and others a bearing guided dovetail bit.
I just looked in the Axminster catalogue but it doesn't mention the type of cutter used.
The only mention I could see of a bearing guided cutter was for the cheaper Axminster range Perform jig but that was a bearing guided straight cutter for making box comb joints.