Theoretically, you can make a track as long as you like by joining shorter tracks together. Most tracks have square ends that are suitable for joining, but it pays to double-check. Whenever joining tracks, use a reliable straightedge to ensure that they join straight and true before tightening down the connectors.

For most track saw cuts you need to go all the way through the material, which means anything underneath is also going to get cut. To protect workbenches and floors (and prevent serious damage to blades on concrete), get a sheet of rigid foam insulation. It acts as a solid, sturdy sacrificial base you can use repeatedly with no damage to your bench or blades.

Track saws already deliver arguably the cleanest cuts around. But some materials, such as laminate countertops or plywood with paper-thin veneer, are still prone to tearout and splintering. To help prevent this, before making a full-depth cut in the workpiece, do a shallow scoring cut about 1/16″ deep. Then, lower the blade to make the full cut.

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But when outfitted with jigs or a specialized base plate, a router table’s handheld cousins take on a whole new range of useful abilities that prove once again why the router is the most versatile shop tool.

Routing Ellipses, Circles

You can cut circular shapes on a band saw if they’re not too large and with a jigsaw if they are. While both techniques are fast, the resulting shapes don’t always turn out perfect since the workpiece is cut by hand without guidance.

Circle-cutting jigs are helpful, but not for oval shapes. But a combination setup, like Rockler’s various ellipse/circle cutting jig options, enable your router to handle both tasks. These jigs feature a dovetailed jig base with a pair of sliding pivot pins, while the jig itself (a pivoting arm) is mounted under the router. Let’s demonstrate this with a sample ellipse.

Before you begin, understand that the workpiece — both the ellipse and the outer waste — must be fully supported and unmovable. You’ll rout all the way through the workpiece, so a sacrificial surface underneath the work is essential. A sheet of plywood or MDF clamped to your workbench works fine.

You can clamp the workpiece down, too, if it’s large enough that the clamps are out of the way. But you can’t clamp the ellipse you’re cutting out in the center. The answer is to forget clamps and use double stick tape to hold everything securely.

To plot the ellipse, draw center pencil lines on your workpiece for the major and minor axes. Then make marks on each radius to define the size. I’ve marked the lines at 5″ and 7-1/2″ radii for an ellipse measuring 10″ x 15″.

Now, mount the jig base in the center of the workpiece aligned with your penciled lines. The jig base attaches with screws, so if the resulting marks will be visible in the finished piece, you can either screw the base down to what will be the unseen side, or use double-stick tape to secure it. Slip the two sliding pivots into the base’s dovetail slots.

Install a straight cutter into your router — either an upcut spiral or regular straight bit — and set the plunge depth to about 1/8″. We’ll make the ellipse with repeated cuts, not in a single pass. Line up the locking attachment knobs on the jig arm with the pivot pins on the base and slip the assembly into place, which will allow the router to rotate freely around the base. Slide the router until the bit lines up with the radius mark for your major axis, and tighten its knob. Then swing the router around to the minor axis mark and tighten it. The router will now rotate in a perfect ellipse.

Turn on the router and plunge the bit into the work, then steadily rotate it around the pivots to complete the first cut. Raise the bit, turn off the router and increase the plunge depth another 1/8″, then make another full rotation. Repeat this process until you’ve routed all the way through and slightly into the sacrificial sheet underneath.

I’ve wrapped the cord clockwise around the router. It’s a great tip that I’ve discovered! As you rotate the router, the cord will want to coil around the router and possibly snag. Wrapping the cord one turn in the same direction you’re routing will instead unwrap the cord in a more controllable fashion as you rout.

Routing a circle is the same process but even easier. For this, you’ll need just a single pivot pin, which is solidly screwed into the jig base through a provided set of holes. There’s no sliding along the jig base’s slots this time; a simple circular rotation is all that’s required to cut the workpiece.

Routing Signs

Short of using an expensive CNC machine or doing it entirely by hand with careful and laborious chiseling, the best way to create signs quickly and accurately is with a handheld router paired with lettering templates.

Lettering guides, such as Rockler’s Interlock Signmaker’s Templates, consist of a series of polymer capital and lowercase letters, various spacers and punctuation. The guides fit together like puzzle pieces to make full templates of words or phrases, just right for a plunge router equipped with a guide bushing and signmaking bit.

For signs with standardized all-capital letters, everything is the same size; you just spell out what you want with your templates and rout away. Script lettering, however, is more involved. Because the letters are “kerned” to accommodate different widths and make the script flow smoothly, the sign is routed in separate passes with different letter parts and spacers.

Rockler makes this easy with an online tool wizard, where you simply type in the words you want and it plots the entire template arranged for each pass. You can then print this guide out to use as you arrange the templates on your workpiece.

For this example, we’ll rout the six-character word “Signs!” This is only a two-pass project, but other words can require five or six passes. By the way, the number of passes isn’t dependent on word length but rather letter complexity. For example, the shorter word “cat” is a three-pass routing operation.

Begin by selecting all the letters and spacers as detailed on the guide along with word anchors on each end, and center the assembled template for the first pass on your workpiece. Separately secure the word anchors first with double-stick tape. These anchors stay in place through all the passes.

Now use masking tape to secure the edges of letters and spacers, and smooth the tape down completely so the router base doesn’t catch on loose edges. Also, it’s a good idea to secure any thin, extended interior parts of letters with a small piece of double-stick tape underneath to keep them from flexing as you bear down when routing.

Clamp the workpiece securely, set the bit to 1/4″ cutting depth and place the router’s guide bushing into the template for the first letter. Turn on the router and plunge it into the work, following the templates as you cut each letter.

After making a complete pass, vacuum out all the debris, which has a tendency to pack down into the letters. It is essential to check that each letter is fully formed with all waste removed. Chances are, you missed some here and there and will need to repeat the first pass to clear out any remaining waste.

When the letters in the first pass are fully formed, be sure to leave the two word anchors solidly in place but remove the lettering and spacing templates from the center. Replace them with those for the second pass, and tape them down. Make the second routing pass the same as the first to complete this sample sign.

The last step is to remove all the templates and refine the lettering with a bit of folded sandpaper. This will remove any burn marks or light “feathering” around the routed grooves left by the bit. Once sanded, the sign is ready for paint or a final finish of your choice.

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Made of two beefy sheets of phenolic, the jig slides open or closed to set the thickness of the strips you need to make. Its aluminum miter bar underneath fits standard 3/8″ x 3/4″ table saw or band saw miter slots and locks securely in place with a star knob. Mount the jig to the left of the blade for table saw use, set the thickness of the offcut and then use the saw’s rip fence to support the workpiece to the right of the blade. A ball bearing on the jig serves as the contact point.

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Drawknives

Drawknives consist of a 5″- to 14″-long knife blade with a tang at each end that is bent at slightly less than a right angle to the blade. Handles are attached to both ends. It is almost always pulled (hence the name) with the bevel up, but it can be pushed if needed. Most have a straight blade, but some are arched either upward (mostly for peeling the outer bark off of logs or coopering staves) or downward for hollowing chair seats, shovels and such. The latter, when approaching a segment of a circle, is commonly referred to amongst chairmakers as a scorp. The edge is usually a convex arc.

The drawknife is perfect for bringing a length of wood to a round or oval shape. They were and still are used in the initial phases of hewing the spindles in the backs of Windsor chairs to their unique shape. Wheelmakers and coopers also employed drawknives extensively — the former for wheel spokes and the latter to make the staves a uniform arc on the inside and outside of a barrel.

In use, the handles allow you to put your upper body and arm strength into slicing thick shavings. One must pay close attention to grain direction, or splitting the workpiece along the grain will result. Avoiding this often entails shaping half the piece in one direction and then reversing the cuts for the other half.

A number of companies still make drawknives today, and serviceable examples in good condition are some of the easiest tools to find on the antique market.

Spokeshaves

A spokeshave is a finishing tool. It refines a drawknife’s work to its final shape with a smooth surface. Spokeshaves come in two types — those with wood bodies and those made entirely from metal. The former can be thought of as a wooden jig with handles at each side that surrounds a blade and limits the thickness of the shaving it generates. Wood spokeshaves have a very low attack angle and require close attention to grain direction. Metal spokeshaves are like a small plane with the handles at the sides. The blade is secured bevel-down and bedded at about 50 to 55 degrees, making it less likely to run with the grain.

While spokeshaves are more commonly pulled, they may be pushed when necessary. Each type of shave has strong partisans.

Traditionally, wood spokeshave blades had a square, tapered tang extending upward at each end of the blade. This mated to like holes in the wood stock and got tighter as it was pushed (and often hammered lightly) into place. Since the 19th century, some wood spokeshaves have sported threaded tangs that were secured with a binding post nut. A screw next to the through hole in the shave adjusted where the blade came home, thereby affecting the thickness of the cut.

Most experienced users of wood or metal spokeshaves adjust the blade to take a heavier cut on one end (usually the left) for quick material removal. Sliding the shave steadily sideways as the work proceeds generates progressively finer shavings and a smooth finish.

Modern workers may not need to use a drawknife but may still find a spokeshave useful for an odd rounding job or to refine a roundover made by a router. Making a bullnose on the edge of a board with a roundover bit that is a bit under- or oversized for the thickness of the board comes to mind. Today, a metal spokeshave is the best bet for most woodworkers, unless they are working with green wood.

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Click Here to Download a PDF of the Layout.

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You can make this table as large or small as you like. I’ve sized mine to fit on top of Rockler’s Material Mate Panel Cart. The cart enables me to tip the clamping table down when I’m done using it to save space. But you could mount this project to a wheeled cart or leg base you make yourself or even to a couple of prefab cabinets you already have on hand. There are lots of options.

Sizing Down MDF and Laminate for Assembly

You can certainly cut MDF with an ordinary circular saw or on the table saw with a helper, but be advised that a 3/4″-thick 4 x 8 sheet weighs nearly 100 lbs! So, I laid a thinner piece of MDF on the shop floor to serve as a waste board underneath, then cut my 3/4″ substrate for the clamping table on top of that. A track saw yielded perfectly smooth, flat edges when I trimmed the MDF to my 40″ x 60″ table size — but again, the final dimensions are entirely up to you. The other benefit of the track saw was its built-in dust collection, because believe you me, MDF creates clouds of fine powdery dust in no time! If you don’t have a saw with dust collection, be sure to wear a dust mask when you cut this stuff. Or consider hauling your sheet outside to cut it there on a nice dry day.

I’ll be using my clamping table regularly for glue-ups, so I wanted a durable surface for the project that would be easy to clean. High-pressure plastic laminate for countertops fills that bill nicely! I bought a 4 x 8 sheet of matte gray laminate from a local countertop supply company. I also bought a sheet of what cabinet shops call “cabinet liner.” It’s a much thinner plastic laminate that costs less. My reason for using it is that a backer piece of laminate will add durability to the bottom face of the table and creates a moisture barrier, like the top face. Balancing the panel helps the MDF from warping due to uneven moisture absorption.

Trim two sheets of laminate so they’re oversized for the project by 4″ in both dimensions — you want a 2″ overhang all around to provide some margin for error when positioning the laminate on the substrate. After marking the size of my laminate, I set my track saw blade super shallow and cut the pieces to size. Be very careful when handling these cut sheets after you’ve trimmed them: cleanly cut plastic laminate will have razor-sharp edges. You won’t notice how sharp they are until it’s too late and you’re searching for Band-Aids! File or sand those edges now to make the sheets safer to handle.

Laminating the Substrate

Applying plastic laminate isn’t difficult, and it’s a great technique to know for future cabinet or countertop projects. But before I explain the procedure, there are a few important things to cover. First, keep your work surfaces and laminate as clean as possible while installing it.

Any random sawdust or particles of debris can form bubbles under the laminate when it’s glued in place. They’ll not only show as a raised bump but are impossible to fix.

Second, whether you use 3M High Strength 90 aerosol contact adhesive as I did or a roll-on variety, once both surfaces have adhesive applied, they will stick together the instant they make contact, and undoing them is nearly impossible without breaking the laminate.

You’ll need to install a barrier or a series of spacers between the MDF and laminate in order to position them without accidentally sticking them together; I used a large sheet of cardboard as a barrier layer. But long dowels closely spaced will also work.

And third, if you use roll-on solvent-based contact cement, the fumes are harmful to breathe and flammable. Be sure to have adequate ventilation in the shop, wear a cartridge respirator and extinguish any pilot lights or open flame.

The photo series here shows how I installed the gray laminate to the top face of my clamping table, but the black cabinet liner is applied the exact same way. Start by vacuuming or brushing off the MDF and the back face of the laminate carefully — again, any debris will be problematic. Lay down drop cloths or use offcuts of laminate to protect from overspray if you use aerosol contact adhesive as I did. Then apply an even coat of adhesive over the entire back face of the laminate and the MDF surface.

The adhesive must dry to a tack before the parts are bonded together, so while you wait, consider how you’ll position the laminate over the substrate. Remember, the laminate is larger than the MDF, and it’s floppy to handle. I laid a long scrap stick against one end of my substrate so I’d have a visual reference for where this end was.

I also set several Bench Cookies along both sides of the substrate to serve as spacers for the cardboard along the edges. When the contact cement was tacky and nearly dry to the touch, I set the cardboard in place over the substrate. Then, I carefully laid the laminate on the cardboard (adhesive side down).

I adjusted the laminate and the cardboard to overhang the substrate, then pushed the cardboard and the laminate backward, exposing a couple of inches of the MDF. I carefully pulled just the laminate forward and stuck the laminate to the MDF. With that end of the laminate and substrate now stuck together, I could slowly pull the cardboard out from beneath the laminate to present both cemented faces to one another.

I used a J-roller to then roll the surface of the laminate thoroughly from the center outward, further bonding the adhesive. If you don’t have a J-roller, you can just wrap a towel around a piece of 2×4 or other large scrap and press the surfaces flat that way instead — it will work just fine. Take a few extra minutes to roll the edges of the table all the way around the perimeter so the laminate is fully bonded there, too.

Edge-trimming and Installation

I gave the contact cement several hours to cure, then I trimmed off the overhanging edges using a router fitted with a piloted 1/16″ roundover bit. If you still have the table’s other face to laminate, do that now.

Since my tabletop was ready to go, I could attach the panel to my Material Mate Cart with four scrap blocks — they just friction-fit against the corners of the cart’s top metal framework so I can lift it off when needed.

Routing the T-Slot Grid

The T-slot grid in my table consists of 3/8″-wide, 3/8″-deep slots spaced 2″ in from the table edges, then 6″ from the ends and across the field area. Rockler’s Indexing Dado Jig, mounted to my router, made easy work of milling this series of slots with a 3/8″ straight bit.

The colored grid shows how I set up the groove pattern. I routed the red slots first, then the blue slots, with the Dado Jig’s fence following the edges of my tabletop. From there, I could rout the rest of the green slots with the Dado Jig’s fence fitted inside the previous slot cuts.

Once all the slots were routed, I swapped my straight bit for Rockler’s T-slot Cutter Bit and left the Indexing Dado Jig on the router. I adjusted the router’s cutting depth so the bottom of the T-slot bit was flush with the bottom of my groove cuts.

Then, I could simply repeat the routing process with the new bit to reshape the lower areas of the grooves into T-slots. It’s a dusty process, but it worked great, thanks to the jig!

When I finished all of the T-slots, I knocked those razor-sharp laminate edges along the top of the grooves down with some sandpaper wrapped around a scrap to finish this handy shop project.

Advice for Using the Clamping Table

You now have a substantial grid of T-slots to help you for all sorts of project assembly or for other sanding and routing tasks! The more I use this accessory, the more applications are made easier by it. Here are a couple of tips I’ve learned to keep in mind. First, if you use Rockler T-slot clamps, choose the styles that push laterally, not the types that apply downward pressure. Those “downward” clamps can produce enough force for their T-bolts to lift and break the MDF, ruining the T-slot. Second, if you use this clamping table for glue-ups, you’ll invariably get some glue drips down in the slots. No problem! They’re easy to clean out by simply running the router and the T-slot bit through those slots again to whisk away the dried glue. Finally, I also use my clamping table for general assembly, which sometimes involves lots of small fasteners and other hardware that could get lost in the slots. In those situations, I just grab a larger scrap piece of sheet material and cover over the area of the clamping table I’m not using to hide that portion of the grid. It’s a simple way to keep those little items right where you can see them and out of the T-slots where they don’t belong.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Rockler Material Mate Panel Cart (1) #56889
Rockler Indexing Dado Jig (1) #59237
Rockler T-Slot Cutter Router Bit (1) #26099
Rockler Straight, 2-Flute Router Bit (1) #90462

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Getting Started

Plane 3/8″-thick stock for the arms, the center layer of the three-part base and the light’s mounting plate. Hardwood such as oak is best to make the articulated arm sufficiently rigid, and heavier stock in the base keeps the center of gravity low.

The base platform is 12″ wide, while the vertical base components measure 14-1/2″ wide, so glue blanks up from multiple pieces. This not only gives you the needed width, but carefully arranging individual pieces also helps to avoid warping in the completed components.

Creating the Arms and Base

Rip a 40″-long piece of 3/8″ stock to 2-1/2″ wide to make the upper arm and one of the two lower arms. Cut another 2-1/2″ x 24″ piece for the second lower arm. The longer workpiece allows you to mark a continuous taper from one end of the two-part arm to the other, starting at 2-1/2″ wide at the bottom of the lower arm and reducing to 1-5/8″ wide at the top of the upper arm. If you prefer, plot patterns onto your stock.

Now draw the rounded ends. The compass’s pinpoint (see Drawings) marks the exact spots for drilling bolt holes later. Separate the two arms from the longer piece then cut just the upper arm to shape.

The most efficient way to process the lower arms is with the workpiece you’ve laid out atop the other unmarked workpiece. Join them with a single 23-gauge pin nail though the compass points (or use carpet tape), then cut and sand at the same time to make identical workpieces. Afterward, pry the pieces apart. Pull out the nails with pliers.

The base platform is just a trapezoid that measures 3-1/4″ wide at one end and 12″ at the other. Mark it to shape and cut it out. Create a paper or cardboard pattern, using the gridded as your guide, to lay out two outer bases and one inner base piece. Cut these to shape, but don’t cut the top end of the neck round just yet.

To minimize sliding, glue and clamp the inner base to just one of the outer base pieces. Allow the glue to set, then glue and clamp on the remaining outer base piece. When it dries, use sanders to refine and smooth both base components.

Now drill 1/4″ pivot holes through the arms on your compass marks. (Again, stack the lower arms to do this.) To get the lower pivoting action correct, lay a lower arm component along the top of the base so the arm’s wide end lines up with the center of the base’s extended neck. Pencil a mark onto the neck through the pivot hole, then use a compass to mark the round end of the neck for cutting. Cut it out and drill a 1/4″ hole through the neck on the layout mark.

Making the Light Plate

Mark and cut out the light mount plate and the two sides of the light mount swivel. Stack the swivel pieces and drill a 1/4″ hole through them, per the pattern. Glue them up with a 3/8″ x 3/8″ spacer at the bottom. Keep the bolt holes aligned when clamping the parts. When the glue dries, center the light mount swivel on the light mount plate, and glue and clamp it into place.

Final Assembly

Center the base on the base platform 2″ in from its rear edge, and mark the location. Lay out the base’s bottom face for three installation screws so you can drill countersunk pilot holes for them.

Drill pilot holes in the corners of the base, and attach the casters with screws and washers. Now apply glue to the bottom of the base, set it atop the base platform and secure it from underneath with 2″ screws.

Give everything a final sanding before applying a finish. Then assemble the arm and light mount swivel with 1/4″ x 1-1/2″ bolts and star knobs. Install the lower arm on the base with a 1/4″ x 2-1/2″ bolt and star knob.

To secure the light itself, apply hook-and-loop tape to the back of the light and to the face of the light mount.

I chose this particular battery-powered light because it’s very bright with two settings (120 and 900 lumens), weighs only 3.6 ounces and there’s no power cord to get in the way. If you use a different light, adjust the size of the mounting plate accordingly. If the light you choose is heavier, you may need beefier bolts and knobs, and perhaps some thin neoprene washers, to keep the arm tightened in position.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard-to-Find Hardware:

Versa Smart 900-Lumen Utility Light (1) #65546
2″ Black & Blue TPU Swivel Caster (3) #63728
Rockler Easy-to-Grip 4-Star Knob, 1/4″-20 (3) #59277

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At that point you’ll face a choice: learn to saw and chop them by hand — the classic method. Or buy a dovetail jig and whip them out with a router instead. Both are entirely viable options, but router-cut dovetails require less hand-and-eye coordination. They’re also quick to churn out, once your jig and router setup are carefully dialed in. If this power tool method seems a better fit for you, here’s what to keep in mind.

On the Level

When I started routing dovetails 20 or so years ago, it didn’t take long to learn a few humbling lessons you may face, too. First, dovetail jigs aren’t panaceas for simplicity. If you hope to unpack a new dovetail jig on a Saturday morning and be milling flawless joints in an hour or two, temper your enthusiasm. To cut a properly fitting joint, most jigs will require that you fine-tune a combination of settings on both the jig and the router bit depth. The trouble is, achieving these critical settings isn’t always quick or easy to understand.

Part of this challenge comes from the nature of dovetails themselves, regardless of how they are cut: pins or tails must fit their sockets within close tolerances. Joints with repeating geometry like these are also subject to cumulative error. Settings can’t begin to drift, even in the slightest, over the width of the parts or the joint will be progressively thrown out of registration. The wider the joint, the more important that every router pass is done with precision.

Then there’s the matter of a jig’s ease of use. I don’t envy the engineers who’ve been tasked to make their company’s dovetail jig simple to set up and operate, more versatile than the competition and still priced affordably for the average home-shop woodworker. It would be no small order! Some jig designs show the spit and polish of brilliant engineering: they’re a breeze to dial in and systematically troubleshoot so you know clearly what to tweak next. Others can be more enigmatic, suffering from design shortcomings or cryptic instruction manuals.

Thankfully, I’ve seen dovetail jigs become generally more user-friendly over the years, and some fine new jigs have come to market, too. You’ll probably also be able to find YouTube videos for just about any dovetail jig you buy that can clarify details in the manual or offer tips and tricks to shorten your learning curve. With any jig, plan on making several test cuts before expecting a piston-fitting dovetail. And be patient with your process. You’ll get there eventually!

How Dovetail Jigs Work

Dovetail jigs are really just elaborate examples of template routing. The router’s path is limited by a template to cut a specific pattern of pins or tails and the sockets in between. In most cases, you feed the router over the template, which is mounted on top of the jig’s housing. For a few jigs, a handheld router is unnecessary: the template with a workpiece clamped to it is inverted and guided over the router bit on a router table instead.

Depending on the joint, workpieces are presented to the jig’s template with either the board’s edge facing up or a face side up. Clamps in front or on top of the jig’s housing lock boards in place for routing. In the case of half-blind joints, both the pin and tail boards are cut simultaneously. For through dovetails, the tail and pin boards are cut with separate templates, router bits and setups, one board at a time.

Most dovetail jigs require that a guide bushing be mounted to the router’s baseplate to follow the openings in the template. Or the bit may have an integral pilot bearing on top that takes the place of the guide bushing. You’ll also need an 8° or 14° dovetail router bit, depending on the joint’s geometry. For through dovetails, a straight-cutting router bit is also required. These bits are often provided with the jig, as are the guide collar or collars required to operate them. But standard aftermarket bits are suitable options, too, provided the cutting angle is correct for the joint style.

A mid-sized or larger router with a 1/2″-capacity collet is the right choice for making the demanding cuts these dovetail jigs require. I find that the lower center of gravity of a fixed-base router makes it easier to handle and preferable to a plunge router. The fixed base makes precise depth-of-cut changes a little easier too — you’re not working against the spring compression of a plunge router this way.

Fixed-template Jigs

There are two primary families of dovetail jigs, based on their template style. Fixed-template dovetail jigs, like Rockler’s, uses one template for cutting the tails of a through dovetail pattern (and both the pins and tails of a half-blind joint) with a dovetail-shaped router bit. The template’s slots are straight and parallel. For through dovetails, a second interchangeable template enables the “pin” side of the joint to be cut using a straight router bit instead of the dovetail cutter. Here, the template’s fingers are angled, rather parallel, in order to mill angled faces on the pins that fit between the tails.

The templates that come standard with a fixed-template jig typically cut a pattern of pins and tails that have the same size and spacing. But optional templates can expand the range of joints to patterns with larger tails, irregular spacing between the pins and tails and even box joint styles.

Adjustable-template Jigs

One of the benefits of learning to hand-cut dovetails is that you can choose any pattern of pins and tails that suits your preference and application. That’s impossible to do with a fixed-template jig; spacing is always predetermined by the template, and it can’t be changed.

If customizing your dovetail joint layouts is important to you, an adjustable-template jig can help. Here’s what makes this family of jigs distinct: a collection of paired metal fingers create the template that guides the router bit in a handheld router. One end of each pair of fingers forms a parallel slot for cutting tails with a dovetail bit. The other end of the fingers are angled to guide the pin cuts of the joint using a straight router bit. The same metal fingers will cut a range of joints in both half-blind and through dovetail styles.

Each pair of fingers can be unlocked and opened or closed to create wider or narrower pins and tails. Even better, adjusting one end of the fingers automatically dials in the other end for the mating cut. Pairs can be spread apart from other pairs along the jig’s mounting bars to vary the joint layout and spacing however you like. Once you set the pattern, tails are cut with the template oriented outward in the jig. To cut the pins, just flip the template over and reinstall, and switch router bits.

Other Variations

If you’d rather not steer a heavy router over the top of a conventional dovetail jig, a “top-down” option, such as the RTJ400 from Leigh Industries might be a better choice. Here, you can use a router table and benefit from its larger work surface to support the jig when feeding workpieces through their cuts. Effectively, the jig is a fixed template with an integral clamping system. It functions similarly to a conventional fixed-template jig, just upside down.

Another even more streamlined option for dovetail jigs amounts to a pair of fixed templates and nothing more. With these, you fasten a piece of wood to each template to serve as a backup board during cutting. It also provides a clamping surface for workpieces. Keller & Company innovated this “template only” dovetailing method in the late 1970s, and it remains one of the simplest systems on the market.

Aside from their ease of use, there’s no limit to the width of workpieces you can rout with Keller’s aluminum or phenolic dovetailing templates. With other dovetail jig styles, workpieces must be narrower than the clamping apparatus that holds them in place. Depending on the jig, that might only be 12″ — too narrow for large projects.

Dovetailing Challenges

As I suggested at the outset, dialing a dovetail jig in for accuracy usually takes some trial and error. Shifting the jig’s template slightly forward or backward, changing the bit’s depth of cut or altering how workpieces are offset from one another inside the jig all influence how well the joint parts align and fit together. Here are a few of the common problems you’ll probably encounter when working with your jig. If you’re just getting started, expect several or even all of these situations to occur sooner or later.

– Overly loose or tight joints. A properly made half-blind or through dovetail joint should slip together without noticeable gaps, but you shouldn’t have to pound them together either. Overly tight fits on a dry joint will only cause you more trouble, once glue is applied and the wood begins to swell. Conversely, loose joints are inherently weak and look sloppy, too.

What’s the fix? Typically, loose or tight joints are the result of a router bit that’s set too deeply (loose fit) for the cut or not deep enough (tight fit). On the next test joint, try a tiny change to your router’s depth of cut, and you’ll probably see a noticeable improvement in how the parts come together. Sneak up on a “push” fit, making only slight depth adjustments each time. On a good day, it may take at least two or three more test cuts after the first try before you’ll achieve a proper joint.

– Half-blind joints don’t fit together flush. It’s common for the tail board of half-blind joints to either slide too far into the sockets of the pin board or not far enough. In these situations, turn your attention to the template’s depth-of-cut setting — not the router bit. A tail board that embeds too deeply into the pin board means the template is allowing the bit to cut too far. Reset the template further forward on the jig housing and try again. Or if the tail board won’t push all the way home, the bit isn’t cutting far enough into the pin board. Move the template backward a smidge and make another test cut. In either case, the amount of mismatch between the parts is the distance you should reset the template.

– Part edges misalign. You can see that the edge of this joint’s pin board stands out from the tail board when assembled. In these situations, make sure your pin and tail boards are precisely the same width. Misaligned parts might also indicate that a stop on the jig needs to be adjusted a nudge. If the offset is only minor, the problem might not be worth tweaking the jig; a few swipes with a hand plane or a pass or two over the jointer could be the quicker fix.

– Pins or tails grow or shrink across the joint. Here’s a dastardly problem I once encountered. It occurred well past the stage where my dovetail jig was tuned and cutting beautifully. Some half-blind dovetails on a figured maple drawer I was routing drifted from 3/8″-long tails on one end of a joint to nearly 5/8″ long on the other end. The culprit: my bit was slipping ever so slightly out of the collet in the tough maple, cut by cut. I hope this catastrophe never happens to you, but learn from my mishap: be sure to use a clean router collet in good condition, and periodically check it for tightness as you work — not just before you begin. Dull bits, tough woods, loose collets or simple expansion and contraction of the collet as it heats up and cools off during use all can result in slipping bits…and ruined workpieces.

Tips for Success

Here are a few more tidbits of hard-fought wisdom that might help ease your dovetailing process:

– Take time when preparing your stock. It’s crucial that boards are flat, of uniform thickness and have square ends and edges. Otherwise, prepare for “garbage in, garbage out,” as they say.

– Read and reread your jig’s manual. Unless you use a dovetail jig routinely, you won’t memorize its nuances or probably even keep it set up for use. Make the manual your friend.

– Change settings one at a time and incrementally. A quick way to get befuddled with a dovetail jig is to tweak too many variables at once. Ask any experienced user…

– Save your best sample joints. When a test joint fits just right, by all means save it for future reference. Mark the parts with any relevant information — bit type and depth, template setting, router used, etc. — that can help you replicate the scenario next time. Life is short, so work smarter, not harder.

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With its narrow blade, the band saw excels at cutting smooth curves. For nonsymmetrical shapes and workpieces made up of multiple curves, cutting freehand usually does the trick. As long as you keep it slow and steady you can follow your cutline pretty closely, and then clean up the results later with sanding. But even with the most careful sawing, following the cutline for a perfect circle, the most basic of symmetrical shapes, can be daunting — the results are seldom perfect. However, with a simple jig that you can make quickly and easily, you’ll be able to cut an exact circle every time on the band saw without the need to follow a cutline. In fact, you won’t even need to draw the circle on your workpiece, so you can leave your compass in a drawer.

STEP 1: To create the jig, cut a piece of sheet stock to the width of your band saw’s table. For circles up to 16″ in diameter, a jig 10″ to 12″ long is fine. I prefer laminated material such as melamine, as it allows your workpiece to slide easily while cutting, but regular plywood or other sheet stock with a smooth surface will work fine. Center the jig on your band saw’s table — the edges of the jig should be flush with the edges of the table — and slide it till it just touches the blade. Make a mark on the front edge of the jig even with the tips of the blade teeth, as in Photo 1.

STEP 2: Starting at your mark, use a reliable square to continue the line across the surface of the jig as in Photo 2. You can see here that I’ve drilled holes into the jig’s side edges that will accommodate a pair of fence clamps to secure the jig to the band saw’s table. Now, measuring from the front edge, make a series of marks 1″ apart along this line.

Step 3: With a 1/4″ or 3/8″ bit in your drill press, bore holes exactly on each of your marks (see Photo 3). Drill just short of going all the way through the jig. When cutting the circle, the workpiece will pivot on a short length of dowel inserted into one of these holes. Because the workpiece rotates at these holes, each marks the exact center of the circle, with the distance from the front edge of the jig determining the circle’s radius. Thus, the first hole drilled at 1″ will be the pivot for a 2″ circle; the hole drilled at 2″ gives a 4″ circle, and so on. You might find it helpful to mark your jig with a permanent marker as I’ve done here.

STEP 4: Place the jig on your band saw’s table so your line of holes is perpendicular to the blade and even with the tips of the blade’s teeth. A piece of paper held behind the blade, as I’m doing in Photo 4, makes it easier to see the teeth. With the jig correctly positioned, clamp it securely to the saw’s table.

STEP 5: Cut a short length of 1/4″ or 3/8″ hardwood dowel for your pivot. This dowel should be short enough that it will fit into a hole drilled on the underside of your workpiece but still allow the workpiece to rest flat on the table. For this example, I’ve decided to cut an 8″ circle, so in Photo 5 I’m slipping the dowel into the hole that is 4″ from the front edge of the jig. (Remember, the distance from the blade is the circle radius.)

STEP 6: Cut a workpiece slightly larger than the desired circle; for our 8″ circle here I’ve cut a workpiece measuring 8-1/2″ x 8-1/2″. Now, measure exactly 4″ from the center of the front edge of the workpiece and drill a hole sized to accept the pivot dowel (see Photo 6). The purpose you have in mind for your circle will determine how deeply to drill this hole: For an unblemished top surface, don’t drill all the way through. If the top surface isn’t critical — if you’re cutting wheels, for example, that require an axle going all the way through the circle — it’s OK to drill all the way through the workpiece. Note here that I’ve marked an arrow pointing to the front edge to keep things straight.

STEP 7: Drop the workpiece onto the dowel as in Photo 7, making sure to keep the front edge oriented toward the blade. If you’ve done everything correctly, the workpiece will fall into place with the front edge just kissing the blade.

STEP 8: Turn on the saw, and rotate your workpiece smoothly on its pivot as in Photo 8 to cut a perfect 8″ circle. When the circle is complete, power down the saw and let the blade come to a full stop before removing the workpiece and waste.

For the jig in this example I’ve drilled the pivot holes at 1″ intervals, but feel free to set your jig up to create circles of any desired size. Just remember that the pivot holes should always reflect the radius of your desired circle. Also, if you think you may use your circle-cutting jig frequently, consider attaching a cleat to the underside that will fit the miter slot on your band saw’s table to make setup faster and easier.

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