Router Table Dovetail Key Jig

7/30/2019 Router Table Dovetail Key Jig

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RouteR table

dovetail key jig

© 2011 August Home Publishing Co.



itering the corners o

a project is a good way

to give it a nice, clean look. But a

glued up mitered joint isn’t all that

strong. A great way to provide extra

REAR

BED

CL

1

!/4

BACKER

T-TRACK

#6 x #/8" Fh

WOODSCREW

FRONT

BED

#/8

2%/8

!/8

REAR BED(5%/8" x 16" - #/4" Ply.)

T-TRACK(16" LONG)

B

A

FRONT BED(5%/8" x 16" - #/4" Ply.)

BACKER(2" x 5#/4" -!/4" Hdbd.)

ABEVEL BOTTOM

OF BACKERAT 45°

!/2" RAD.

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Feature Project

routertableDovetailK ey jigDovetail keys are a great way to strengthen a miter joint. This jig takes

the hassle out of cutting the slots for the keys.

M

a.

b.

1

strength, along with good looks, is

to add dovetail-shaped hardwood

keys across the corners.

The challenge comes in accu-

rately positioning and cutting the

slots or the dovetail keys. The

solution is the jig you see above. It

securely holds the project at the cor-

rect angle while you make the cuts

on the router table.



The Jig. The jig is just a pair o

angled bed assemblies that support

both sides o the project. They’re

attached to a hardboard base. A run-

ner attached to the base guides the

jig in the miter slot o your router

table. Note: I your table doesn’t

have a slot, you can leave the run-

ner o and guide the jig using your router table ence.

A piece o T-track that rests in a

groove in the ront bed is used to lock

in a pair o stops that keep the work-

piece in position during the cut. In

the rear bed, I cut a dovetail-shaped

dado to accept a replaceable backer

that helps prevent tearout (Figure

1a). You can read more about this in

the Shop Short Cut on page 5.

Finally, I rounded the top outside

corners and shaped the inside edge

o each bed, as in Figures 1 and 1b.Jig Assembly. Once the bed sup-

ports are completed, you can glue

and screw them to the beds using

braces, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Like the beds, the outside corners

o the supports are rounded.

The two beds are attached to the

base to create a cradle assembly.

I sized the base so that when the

beds were glued in place, it created

a small dust relie (Figure 2b).

Beore moving on and adding

the runner, there’s one thing to do

HG

F

RUNNER(#/4" x 12")

NOTE: STOP LEGS ARE#/4" PLYWOOD. RUNNER IS

#/8"-THICK HARDWOOD

#6 x 1" FhWOODSCREW

SHORT STOP LEG(2" x 4!/2" - #/4" Ply.)

LONG STOP LEG(2" x 5!/4" - #/4" Ply.)

!/4"-20 x 1!/4"FLANGE BOLT,WASHER, AND

THRU KNOB END VIEW

!/4"-20 THRU

KNOB

W/WASHER

!/4"-20 x 1!/4"FLANGE BOLT

RUNNER

#6 x 1" Fh

WOODSCREW

#8 x 1!/2" Fh

WOODSCREW

CL

NOTE: LOCATE

RUNNER SO SLOT

IS CENTERED OVER

ROUTER BIT

RUNNER

FRONT VIEW

ROUTER TABLE

MITER TRACK

RUNNER

#8 x 1!/4" Fh

WOODSCREW

END VIEW

1!/4

!/8

BRACE

FRONT

BED

BED SUPPORT BASE

REAR

BED

NOTE: BED SUPPORT AND BRACES ARE #/4"

PLYWOOD. BASE IS !/4"HARDBOARD#8 x 1!/4" Fh

WOODSCREW

C

D

E

BED SUPPORT (3!!/16" x 16")

!/2" RAD.

2

BASE(9!/4" x 16")

BRACE(2!/2" x 2!/2")

CUT CENTEREDSLOT AFTERASSEMBLY (DETAIL ‘a’)

CL

FRONT

BED

FRONT VIEW

1BED

SUPPORT

BASE

#/4

2 WoodsmithShop.com © 2011 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserve

a.2

b

a.

b.

3

at the table saw. And that’s to cut a

centered slot in the jig to provide

clearance or the dovetail bit, as you

see in Figure 2a.

RunneR & sTops. With the slot cut or

the bit, you’re ready to add the run-

ner that guides the jig (Figure 3).

It’s just a strip o hardwood cut to t

the miter slot o your router table.

You’ll need to locate the runner to

center the slot over the bit and install

it square to the ront edge (Figures

3 and 3b). Finally, I added the stops.

Each is simply two small pieces

o plywood glued and screwed

together at a right angle. They’re

locked in place using a fange bolt,

washer, and knob, as in Figure 3a.


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Cut Slots. The jig positions the proj-

ect securely to cut a dovetail-shaped

slot for a key.

DOVETAIL

BIT

ADJUST DEPTH

OF CUT TO MATCH

LAYOUT LINE

END VIEW

Once you have the jig completed,

cutting the slots or the keys, like

the ones you see in the photo at

right, is a snap. It’s a simple step-by-

step task that only takes a ew min-

utes. To complete the joint, you’llmake the dovetail-shaped keys and

glue them in place. And nally, trim

and sand them fush.

Routing the slots As I mentioned earlier, the jig makes

routing the slots or the keys easy.

The rst step in doing this is setting

the depth o cut.

seTTing The DepTh. I’ve ound that the

easiest way to do this is to install the

dovetail bit and position the jig over

it. In Figure 1 you can see a layout line drawn across one corner o the

project. This line represents the

MARK

CENTERLINE

ON BACKER

FOR

REFERENCE

BACKER

STOP

FIRST: ALIGN

LAYOUT LINE ON

WORKPIECE WITH

CENTERLINE ON

BACKERSECOND:LOCK STOPS

AGAINST

WORKPIECE

THIRD:ROUT

SLOT

LAYOUT

LINE

FLIP WORKPIECE TO

ROUT SYMMETRICAL

SLOT

CENTERLINE

OF SLOT

ALIGNS WITH

LAYOUT LINE

FLIPPING WORKPIECE

ENSURES SLOT

SYMMETRY

u J

4

3

21

a.a.

desired depth o the key slot and pro-

vides an easy reerence or adjusting

the height o the bit to match.

posiTioning The pRoJecT. That takes

care o the depth o cut, so you can

move on to the next step — position-ing the project in the jig. To do this,

you need to know exactly where the

bit will cut. As illustrated in Figure 2,

I marked a layout line along the top

edge o the backer to indicate the

centerline o the bit.

Now that you know where the

centerline is, you’re ready to position

the project using the stops. They’ll

keep it rom shiting side to side. To

do this, make additional layout lines

on the sides o the project.

Each layout line indicates thecenter o a slot, and the number and

spacing o the lines will depend on

the project. The main goal is to mark

the layout lines on one side so they extend above the top edge o the jig

(Figure 3). This makes it easy to

position the project to align with the

centerline on the backer. Then, sim-

ply slide the stops against the sides

o the project to lock it in place.

RouTing A sloT. At this point, creat-

ing a slot is just a matter o turning

on the router and making a single

pass. To cut a slot on the other three

corners, just rotate the project and

make an identical pass.

I your slot layout is symmetrical

along the corner o the project, you

won’t always need to reposition the

stops to cut a slot. As you can see in

the example in Figure 4, fipping the

project takes care o locating the slot

identically or the next our passes.

I you have more slots to cut in a di-

erent location, simply readjust the

stops and repeat the process.

CReating the keys

Cutting the slots is just hal the job. The nal task is to add the dovetail-

shaped keys. The nice thing is that

you’ll stay right at the router table

and use the same bit.

sAfeTy fiRsT. Because the keys are

small, it’s best to start with a long,

extra-wide blank. This way, you can

work saely and more accurately.

The goal is to rout dovetails along

the edges o the blank that t snug

in the slots, as in Figure 5.


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sizing The Key. To start, adjust

the height o the bit to cut slightly

deeper than the depth o the slot.

Then, sneak up on the size o the

key by making a series o passes.

The extra width o the blank allows

you to rout a key along both edges

o the blank. Just be sure to check

the t requently, as in Figure 5b.Rip The Key sTRips. When you have a

good t, you’re ready to rip the keys

rom the edges o the blank (Figure

6). I positioned my rip ence to cut

the strip ree right along the shoul-

der line, as you see in Figure 6a.

glue in The Keys. Ater cutting indi-

vidual keys ree rom the strips, dou-

ble check the t o each key beore

you glue any o them in place. You

may nd you have to sand one side

o each key lightly to get a perect

t. To avoid installing a key in the wrong slot, I ound it easiest to t

and glue each key in one at a time,

as shown in Figure 7.

finAl DeTAils. Give the glue time

to dry, and then use a hand saw to

remove most o the waste rom each

key. Just make sure not to mar the

ROUT

KEYS ON BOTH

EDGES OF BLANK

KEY BLANK

PUSH

BLOCK

RIP STRIPS

FROM BOTH

EDGES OF BLANK

RIP

FENCE

KEY

NOTE: CUT INDIVIDUALKEYS TO SIZE, APPLY

GLUE TO SLOT AND KEY,THEN PUSH KEY IN PLACE

USE FINE-TOOTH

SAW TO TRIM

AWAY MOST

OF WASTE

WASTE

SAND KEYS

FLUSH WITH

SIDES

HARDWOOD

SANDING BLOCK

KEY

BLANK

TEST

FIT

KEY INSLOT

KEY

BLANK SIZE

KEY

SLIGHTLY

DEEPER

THAN

SLOT

SHOULDER

KEY

BLANK

Check the Fit & Glue. Check the fit

of the keys as you make them, and

then glue them in place.

Trim & Sand Flush. Once the glue

dries, trim off the waste and sand the

keys flush.

6

7 8 9

a.

b.5

a.

sides o the project. I like to use a fush-cut saw, like the one shown in

Figure 8, because it’s the simplest

way to avoid marring the sides as

you make the cut.

All that’s let is sanding any remain-

ing waste fush with the sides. To

ensure a smooth, fat surace, I like

to sand with the grain and back my sandpaper with a hardwood block,

as in Figure 9.

Dovetail keys are a great way to

strengthen a mitered joint and give

a project an appealing decorative

touch. The jig makes the whole pro-

cess quick and easy.


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tiPs From our shoP

shoP shortcut

INSERT

RIP

FENCE

NOTE: TILT BLADE TO MATCH

ANGLE OF DOVETAIL BIT

2

NOTE: MAKE SEVERAL

BACKERS FOR

DIFFERENT BIT SIZES

REAR

BEDBACKER IS

CENTERED

OVER BED

BACKER

REDUCES

TEAROUT

SLOT FOR

DOVETAIL BIT

2

DOVETAIL BIT

REAR BED

RECESS

MATCH

THICKNESS

OF BACKER

When using the router table dovetail

key jig to rout slots, it’s important to

support the back o the workpiece as

the bit exits. This way, you’ll reduce

tearout and leave a nice, clean edge

to highlight the dovetail keys.

The dovetail key jig incorporates

a replaceable hardboard backer just

or this purpose. It slips into a dove-

tailed recess, as you can see in the

drawing at right.

I cut the recess at the router tableusing a dovetail bit. The depth o cut

should equal the thickness o the

hardboard you’ll use or the backer

(detail ‘a’). Ater routing the two

sides o the recess, clean out the

waste with multiple passes.

Making the insert is an easy task

at the table saw. I made several to

have on hand by ripping long stock

with the blade tilted (detail ‘b’).

Dv k Bcr

b.a.

Router Table Dovetail Key Jig

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