Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards => Topic started by: Wasteofspace on October 09, 2012, 12:57:20 AM
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I sent an email to Scott Nichols of Newfangled Solutions asking if he had or intended to have a wizard for cutting dovetails.
He replied that at present they don't have anything like that, but if I were to put a request here and see if anybody else was interested in it then he would consider it.
It would be really nice to have a wizard that would automatically space the dovetails and write the code for you. It would save a lot of time and I myself would certainly then purchase a licensed copy of the NFW.
May I therefore urge all you woodworkers to ask Scott to make this wizard and save all our collective sanitys
Bob Willson
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Yes!, I would like that!
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Tell me how you setup a router to do dovetails? I see how to do the 'socket' part but not the pin part.
I am now writing the wizards for V4 and would consider other functions.
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For reference:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,21481.0.html
Russ
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Sorry, I don't understand the question.
Half the joint is made with a dovetail cutter and the other half with a straight end mill.
Look at this for an idea of how complex it can be.
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5811
That is why we need a wizard.
Bob Willson
Tell me how you setup a router to do dovetails? I see how to do the 'socket' part but not the pin part.
I am now writing the wizards for V4 and would consider other functions.
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Ron, I have seen some of the guys cut holes through their table and others have enough travel to do it on the end. They will clamp the board in so the length is running parallel with the cutter. I like the tapered pins and sockets.
Brett
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Or, you can make a right angle shoe as I did.
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f170/machining-right-angle-pun-159752/
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Yup, a right angle plate would work too. Can you post the pictures here? Can't see those unless your a registered member.
Brett
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Russ the roaming reference library.................. you have a memory like an elephant. :) Impressed.
Brett
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Pictures from the woodworkers forum
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And this one too
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Nice!
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Ron
This is not true of all dovetails. In some of them, both halves of the joint are made with the dovetail cutter
Quote of an earlier post:
Half the joint is made with a dovetail cutter and the other half with a straight end mill.
Look at this for an idea of how complex it can be.
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5811
That is why we need a wizard.
Bob Willson
Tell me how you setup a router to do dovetails? I see how to do the 'socket' part but not the pin part.
I am now writing the wizards for V4 and would consider other functions.
[/quote]
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I finally made a good dovetail using the previous instructions as a very rough guide. Only took me about 4 hours See the attached CRVs for what I did, using a 7 degree dovetail bit and a 6mm end bit which I told the program was a 5.75 mm bit so that I could get a tiny bit of clearance.
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Hi Ron
You asked me to send some photographs and links for ways in which people can use their CNC machines for cutting dovetails and box joints.
The problem with cutting these joints on a CNC machine is the need for the round bits to cut a square shoulder in the timber, and for that to happen the timber needs to be machined from the end rather than from the top.
Three ways to achieve this are:
1) to cut a hole in the table surface so that board can stick up through the table,
2) make the table able to cut over the end of the bed
3) make a shoe that is able to hold the router at right angles to the table surface
A fourth way is to only make very small boxes that will fit under the transom of the table. ::)
I didn't want to cut a hole in table top, so I made a shoe that held the router at right angles to the table.
Shortly after doing this I had an epiphany realising that I could get a fair amount of router overhanging the end of the table by utilising the back of the transom to mount the Z axis. So all I need to do is unscrew the Z axis from the front of the transom and attach it to the rear of the transom.
You tube movie of half blind dovetails http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGEYO1g6ZcU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGEYO1g6ZcU)
Some problems that others have experienced http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/cnc-machining/heck-time-dovetail-machining-200399/ (http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/cnc-machining/heck-time-dovetail-machining-200399/)
False dovetails http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Dovetail_DrawerBox_Joinery.html (http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Dovetail_DrawerBox_Joinery.html)
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Forgot this photo too