[icor1031]

I caved in and bought this, because it's only $80 right now and I may build a work table soon. :yes:

PORTER-CABLE 4210 12-Inch Dovetail Jig - Amazon.com



I've never dovetailed before. How sensitive are they to board lengths, if you're making a square and dovetailing each side? (i.e. a 4-sided box.)

That is, for example: If one board is 1/8" longer on a than all of the others on a 1ft box, am I going to have a very bad day?

 

[dsm]

Why don't you just cut them equal length from longer stock? In my limited experience, anything that can mess up a dovetail joint will do just that. And why would you want to make a square box if one dimension is 1/8" off?

 

[icor1031]

I'm just asking how sensitive they are to error, it's not that I want an error.

Why don't you just cut them equal length from longer stock? In my limited experience, anything that can mess up a dovetail joint will do just that. And why would you want to make a square box if one dimension is 1/8" off?

 

[ryan50hrl]

Fairly sensitive. They need to be real close to exact on.