Box Joints and Dovetails

Very nice! Here’s what I put together for the same purpose:


Still working out some kinks. Finding that I need a backer board in place to reduce tear-out (especially on plywood). The outside t-tracks on the vertical board sit above the surface - so they provide a 90 degree stop - makes it easy to put in a piece for routing. Made some different clamps too (sorry, no picture yet) that are 12" long with a full-lenght slot - so they can squeeze the board similar to your vise. I also can put one at the bottom for a stop - making flipping the board end-for-end easy, as there is a bottom reference as well as a side.

I set up a Fusion 360 project with a parametric-driven dovetail setup, so it’s pretty easy to define a new dovetail configuration and get to g-code. I was able to put in backer boards as additional stock, so I’m happy with my cutting configuration at the moment.

The current kink I’m working out is getting a more reliable centering along the X-axis - my dovetails are slightly to one side when they shouldn’t be. When I do both ends, they are off enough so that a box doesn’t fit right (doesn’t take much - 1/16 off is too much).

I think I’m close to having a repeatable, efficient, process.

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