Dovetail drawers

[jonathanmahnken]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I think I was hoping that someone had figured out a gadget that uses the special cnc dovetail bits that do everything flat. The last suggestion with the ball nose bit is pretty nice, but it may be a little slow for the 30 drawers I will need to make.

[TReischl]

30 drawers = 4 x 30 corners X 2 cuts per corner = 240 cuts.

You sure you want to do this on a cnc router?

[Tailmaker]

.... The last suggestion with the ball nose bit is pretty nice, but it may be a little slow for the 30 drawers I will need to make.

Agreed. Such 3d cuts take about 5-15 minutes per corner. The method is just not intended for large volumes. Rather think decorative boxes or maybe a single piece of furniture with drawers where the joint cutting is a minor part of the whole project time. It will however save the design/drawing/toolpathing part of the project for the joints, simplify the setup and reduce the possibility of mistakes.

[Adrian]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I think I was hoping that someone had figured out a gadget that uses the special cnc dovetail bits that do everything flat.

I looked it into those (very expensive) bits a few years ago. From memory they just use standard profile toolpaths so you don't need a gadget. Just draw the vectors and create the toolpath as a usual job. After all drawers are generally standard sizes so you only need to create a template file.

[Rcnewcomb]

Consider looking at joints designed to be cut on a 3 axis CNC using a standard end mill. 50 Digital Wood Joints by Jochen Gros

[Tailmaker]

The last suggestion with the ball nose bit is pretty nice, but it may be a little slow for the 30 drawers I will need to make.

In the meantime I made some progress with my improved dovetail app and found a way to carve these joints even slower...
Took me a while to figure out the math, but I think it looks cool
Definitely only for some fine woodworking projects and surely easier and more precise than cutting by hand. I am not sure something like this could even be done with a dovetail bit.

This is a sample joint with completely CNC machined inlayed dovetails. The pin side is red oak, the tail side is cherry and the inlay is bloodwood. If I can pull off a real project sometimes I will post in the gallery. So far this more an effort to exercise my brain.

Complete joint:

Machining the inlay strip from end grain bloodwood:

Inlay strip cut clear on the band saw:

Inlay strip glued onto the pin board and machined to fit with the tails:

Tail toolpath loaded into Aspire and simulated. The pins toolpath can be loaded and exported as well from Aspire but does not simulate properly due to the undercuts:

[sharkcutup]

Are you sure that the first image is the correct image for that joint? I must be blind because I do not see the Bloodwood inlay in that image Never mind I Magnified the image you are okay!

Interesting Look for a joint with some added time to the process but as always the more time you spend on a project the better the outcome! Awesome Job Tailmaker! A brain teaser for sure!!!

Sharkcutup

[Tailmaker]

Sharkcutup, here is one for the vision impaired
This is a finger joint with 0.2" thick inlay. The most difficult part was keeping the glue squeeze-out from the inside visible surface.

[sharkcutup]

That is a nice accent to the Joint!

Thank You for sharing, Tailmaker!

Sharkcutup

[TReischl]

I did joints like that years ago using an incra fence on the table router. They had all sorts of templates for various fancy joints. I still use the incra fence but not for joint making anymore, just a router fence.

here is a link to a video

https://youtu.be/2sSrM4dOGHI

[Tailmaker]

.....I did joints like that years ago using an incra fence on the table router.....

I know that is technically possible, but it is just so frigging difficult (man, just look at the process in the video). Actually, that is what got me started with my CNC joint obsession. Doing such precision repeating distance jobs by hand, even with such a fancy jig, is not for the average woodworker. A tiny error will ruin the entire piece.

I want to get to the point making such joints by plugging in the board and bit dimensions and just let the machine rip. And, of course all to be machined flat...
Almost there.

[scottp55]

A brain teaser just glancing at it G.
Never mind DOING it!
Love seeing your stuff!
scott

[jonathanmahnken]

Consider looking at joints designed to be cut on a 3 axis CNC using a standard end mill. 50 Digital Wood Joints by Jochen Gros

Dovetail-Key-Corner.jpg
Jigsaw-Mitre-Joint.jpg
FiftyDigitalWoodJoints.png

Im having a hard time accessing these joints. How do I download these?

[Adrian]

Consider looking at joints designed to be cut on a 3 axis CNC using a standard end mill. 50 Digital Wood Joints by Jochen Gros

Dovetail-Key-Corner.jpg
Jigsaw-Mitre-Joint.jpg
FiftyDigitalWoodJoints.png

Im having a hard time accessing these joints. How do I download these?

Click the link that says "Download the complete package"... which will download a zip file which contains all the files.