piece is held tight against the
surface of the other thereby
holding the two parts
perpendicular to one another
on half-blind, through and
sliding dovetails, and exactly
end to end on flat dovetail or
butterfly joints.
If your cuts are made with
precision, when you assemble
your piece it will be nearly
perfectly square just from the
dovetail joints themselves.
So why are dovetail
joints so intimidating
for many?
Since these are self-aligning,
self-squaring joints of extreme
strength, why is it that they are
not regularly used by all
woodworkers as the preferred
method of joining two work
pieces together? And, why is
it that the term “dovetail joint”
also can strike such fear and
intimidation in so many
woodworkers?
One part of the answer is that
for the joint to work well both
the male and the female
portions of the joint have to be
cut with extreme precision. If
the angles and sizes of the
male fan shapes and the
corresponding female recesses
are not exactly the same the
joint will either not go together
at all or it will be so loose as to
be nearly useless.
Another part of the answer lies
in just how difficult it is to cut
these perfectly matching fan
shapes when you do more
than one of each on each of the
two parts to the joint. Now the
requirement for precision is
amplified since even if the
male and female fan shapes
are exactly the same size and
same angle, if they are not also
exactly the same distance
apart, the joint simply will not
go together no matter how
hard you try.
Given the requirements for
perfection in cutting these
highly useful joints, there is
little wonder why the dovetail
joint is considered so difficult
to cut properly and also why
there have been so many
techniques, jigs and fixtures
offered by different
manufacturers to cut them.
Each requires the user to learn
a specific, different set of steps
and techniques. Often the
steps and techniques are far
from intuitive and can involve
a rather long or steep learning
curve.
Maybe that is why you can go
into most any woodworking
shop and you are likely to find
at least one and often two or
more dovetail jigs stacked in
the corner unused, gathering
dust. The owner tried to learn
the steps and techniques
outlined in the manuals that
accompanied the jig or fixture,
and may even have done so at
one time. But, the next time
they tried to use the jig they
got confused and felt like they
had to start all over again from
scratch. Frustrated, they
tossed the jig into the corner
and there it sits today.
In this manual I am going to
try to reverse this trend by
showing you how to use the
exceptionally well engineered
Festool VS-600 dovetail jig to
make perfect drawers, boxes
and cabinets every time with
little or no “relearning”
required.
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