Gifkins Dovetail Jig
The dovetail is a strong, attractive joint that is one of the earmarks of good workmanship. When I am making a one-off piece of custom furniture, I’ll hand cut the dovetails. It’s a matter of aesthetics. If I’m doing a set of kitchen cabinets where I have a dozen or more drawers, I’ll use a jig. It’s a matter of practicality. I want a well-constructed end product that looks good, done in a timely, efficient manner.
There are already a fair number of dovetail jigs from which to choose, so I was surprised to learn about a new product on the market, the “Gifkins Dovetail Jig”. Portable dovetail jigs seem to fall into two styles: those that clamp to a table or workbench with the routing done by hand (such as with the Leigh, Keller and Porter Cable) and those that use a table mounted router (the Gifkins and the Katie jigs).
Single purpose jigs typically cut either uniformly spaced through or half-blind dovetails. Combination jigs cut both kinds of dovetails, with some offering variable spacing. A number of manufacturers also provide different kinds of templates to do cut a variety of joints, including finger joints, mortise and tenons, and ellipse and wave joint patterns.
The Gifkins jig, made in Australia (available exclusively in North America through The Japan Woodworker), is essentially a single purpose jig. It enables you to cut uniformly spaced through dovetails. The jig comes in four formats: A10, A20, B10 and B20, each corresponding to a different template. The “A” series uses ¼” bits, and will cut stock up to ½” thick and width of 12” wide. The A20 cuts a larger pin size and spacing. The “B” series uses ½” bits and cuts stock up to 7/8” thick and 12 ½” wide.
The Jig
The jig looks deceptively simple. The model I tested, the A10, is 16” long, 3 ¼” high and 3 ¼” wide. The base is a phenolic resin laminate template. Perfectly flat and very rigid. The body consists of a core of high-density resin-fibre composite material. There is a key slot milled in the top of the body. A dovetailed sliding stop lock rides along the key slot. Attached to either side of the body are replaceable MDF backer boards. Two router bits, one a dovetail the other a straight bit, complete the jig. The bits are made by Carb-I-Tool in Melbourne. A 16-page instruction booklet is included, which I recommend that you read before using the jig.
The A10 model accepts work up to 9” wide and a maximum ½” thick. It cuts a dovetail with a pin size of 13/32” and pin spacing of 13/16”. The tail width is 6/16” and the tail spacing is 7/16”.
The Basics
The first thing I did after opening the box was to read the instruction booklet. The instructions are pretty clear and quite detailed. It recommends that you cut a trial joint to test the jig. If the pins and tails don’t mate just right, you can add a paper shim (there are 5 shims provided) behind the backer board. The first cut I made with the jig was right on the money (see the photos below). No adjustments were needed.
There are only a few things to remember when using the jig. The height of the cutter is the thickness of the template plus the thickness of the stock. Don’t worry if the cutter is a bit higher, it won’t affect the joint (but don’t make it any lower!). I eyeballed the height, and ended up with the ends of the joints slightly proud. A few passes with my hand plane cleaned the joint up.
You need to make sure that the cutter bearing is at least 3/16” above the table; else the template won’t have anything to run against.
The “inside” face of the board goes against the jig. It’s probably a good idea to mark the inside faces and the bottom or top edges of your work.
When you set the stop lock against the side of your board, lock it in place and leave it alone. You don’t need to move it until both halves of the joint are cut (i.e. the tails and the pins). If you are doing a run of drawers all the same size, you can cut all the pins first, then all the tails.
You cut the dovetails on the straight fingers of the template, using the dovetail cutter, and you cut the pins on the tapered fingers using the straight cutter.
The Cut
As I mentioned above, my test cut with the jig turned out pretty darn good (see photos). In the photo on the left you can see how clean the pins and tails were cut. There is virtually no tear out. The photo on the right shows the mated pair. The tails and pins sit proud, but can be quickly planed off.
I subsequently made a series of test cuts, in oak and fir, with 3/8 “ and 1/4 “ thick stock. Each time the cuts were perfect. And the jig is incredibly quick to use. Unless you are using front and side stock of different thickness, all you do is cut all the tails on one side of the jig, then cut all the pins on the other side of the jig. Clamp and cut!
When you do change stock thickness you don’t have to adjust the shims; you may only have to do this if you change cutters.
The cutters are carbide tipped, so I expect you should get a fair amount of use out of them. I don’t know if you can use off the shelf cutters; I expect not.
Although this jig doesn’t cut half blind dovetails you can glue a false front to the drawer to get the same effect. Hey, a guy has to make a living at this.
Recommendation:
Well, as far as I’m concerned, this jig does what the manufacturer says it can do, and does it well. At 40% less than the cost of a Leigh Jig, it’s economical, and competitively priced. A core body with a set of bits and either one of the 4 templates costs $199US (about $280 Canadian). You can get a core body, all four templates and 4 sets of bits for $399US. Separately the templates are $63US, and the bits are $26US for the straight cutter and $33 for the dovetail cutter.
If you are looking for a jig that will produce uniformly spaced dovetails accurately and quickly, with a minimum of set up, then this is a jig that I highly recommend.
| Score |
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| Product |
Gifkins Dovetail Jig
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Summary |
Fast, efficient way to produce uniformly spaced dovetails. |
Source |
The Japan Woodworker
800-267-8761
www.japanwoodworker.com |
Price |
$199 US |
Carl Duguay carl@finewoodworking.ca
