# Dovetail for 20" width



## Mahoganychip (Oct 27, 2016)

Greetings,


I was hoping there might be someway I could modify my 12" dovetail jig to use it for a 20" wide run of dovetails in some beautiful flamed maple I have. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I have an idea utilizing some dowel pins to maintain continual straightness and it may work but I thought I'd check to see if others have done similar conquests.


Thanks.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Assuming the wood isn't already 20" wide couldn't you joint and fit the wood and then run the dovetails before you glue it to 20" wide.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*do you have $260.00?*

This jig will make dovetails up to 30" wide.
http://www.ptreeusa.com/rtr_jigs_dovetail_wiz.htm

If that's too rich for you, then you can always make box joints on any width stock with a simple jig. I think joining two separate pieces with dovetails already made, would be a bit tricky, if not impossible.


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## kjhart0133 (Feb 4, 2009)

Learn to hand cut your dovetails and you'll never have this problem  It's not hard and immensely more satisfying.

Check out: Dovetail a Drawer by Frank Klausz for a start.

Kevin H.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Cut 12 inches of doves tails. Reorient/overlap the jig over two of the existing dovetails. Continue to cut the rest of the 20 inch run. Overlapping two dovetails cuts will give you a run of 22 to 23 inches, depending on how wide each cut is.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Use a table saw!*

Make a dovetail jig/sled for the table saw:


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

woodnthings, great videos!!!! I have often wondered about cutting dovetails by hand or a router attachment. I have a table saw so this might be a project for this winter. However..........I have a Bosch table saw that doesn't have miter slots. The blade is set into a section that is fixed but the panels on either side slide on rails for adjustment in width. I'll see if I can find a photo of the TS for you.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Personally I think the dovetail is overrated. It was a solution to poor adhesives of antiquity now obsolete with modern adhesives.


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## Minnesota Marty (Feb 27, 2015)

Steve Neul said:


> Personally I think the dovetail is overrated. It was a solution to poor adhesives of antiquity now obsolete with modern adhesives.


Steve,
I totally agree with your statement. I think it has become a visual thing for the "average" consumer to judge quality on furniture and cabinetry. 

Marty


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Minnesota Marty said:


> Steve,
> I totally agree with your statement. I think it has become a visual thing for the "average" consumer to judge quality on furniture and cabinetry.
> 
> Marty


It goes a little deeper than that. Back when all dovetail work was done by hand people used to check a carpenters dovetail work to see how good it was. The consensus was if the guy was able to make dovetails without gaps in the joints then he was a good carpenter worth spending money with. Therefore the dovetail got to be a sign of quality which people still haven't let go of. In today's furniture factories the dovetail has gotten so automated you could almost teach a chimpanzee to do it so there isn't really any craftsmanship there at all.

In fact when I had a furniture repair shop most of the drawers that needed to be repaired were done with the dovetail. Then instead of working some epoxy in the joint and gluing it back together with the dovetail there were usually parts of it broken off which required remaking some of the parts.


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## Mahoganychip (Oct 27, 2016)

Steve, Thank you. That's what I was considering to do as a last resort. Before I get too far, I must admit that my wood working skills are weak and my experience as a machinist and novice Luthier and CAD designer are all I have to work with for the time being. Add to that the fact that I have never even scratched a piece of wood to make a dovetail makes this all the more fun which is why I reached out to this forum.  I am very happy to see so many good responses and direction to take this to as well and am grateful with everyone.


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## Mahoganychip (Oct 27, 2016)

Thanks. I agree. It's going to be a challenge for me. The jig in the link looks very interesting. Unless I'm mistaken, it appears that it does one board at a time? And the cost is competitive when I had considered on a 24" unit out there. I will certainly be taking a closer look at this one.


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## Mahoganychip (Oct 27, 2016)

That was kinda what I had in mind but I'll need to practice on some scrap pine first.


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## Mahoganychip (Oct 27, 2016)

Even as a novice I agree. The project at hand is something to rest a television and blu-ray player on as well as a place to store some BluRay discs and the reason for the dovetail joints is only aesthetic. In fact, I tried to find a local woodworker who would do them for me once I jointed the boards together but no luck. I will see if I can pull in a photo of the basic ISO plan I made of it...fingers crossed.


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