REVIEW: Gifkins dovetail jig

Words and photos: John McBratney

The Gifkins dovetail jig is manufactured in Australia, which means spares and additional components are easily obtained. The Solo Beginner Pack shown here costs $420 and comes with a standard jig body, stops, a standard template of your choice, router cutters to suit and an instruction manual.

The A10 template is recommended as a starter configuration. This can cut dovetail joints in timbers up to 13mm in thickness. There are other templates and associated cutters available that cover timber thicknesses from 10 to 22mm. My experience confirms the A10 template is a useful starter arrangement.

The jig is an interesting and very clever design. It has a frame which has a two-sided template that screws to its base. One side of the template has parallel fingers, the other has tapered (dovetail shaped) fingers (photo 1).

The kit includes a parallel and a dovetail shaped cutter, both of which have spacing bearings attached just under the cutters (photo 2). The cutters are held in a table-mounted router. I use an AUK router motor and a JessEm router lifter. While similar router and lifters will work, the above has proven most effective. The jig operates only with a router table and cannot be hand held.

The work to be cut (such as the end of the side of a small box) is held end down hard against the template using an external clamp and placed so the edges are equidistant from the nearest template finger. This results in a regular dovetail cut centred on the timber end (photo 3).

The magic of the jig design lies in the setting of the workpiece with respect to the dovetail template to determine how far the cutter goes through the workpiece as it cuts the pins. As the template pins on the straight cutter side are tapered, the positioning of the work to the template pins determines the dimensions of the pin cut, and thus the fit of the finished joint.

The workpiece position is set by means of shims between the jig frame and the backing board, against which the workpiece is clamped. The shims are the white lines between the frame and the backing board in photo 3, but more easily seen in photo 4.

The initial set-up of the jig consists of determining the number of shims required for a neat fit. This entails making several test cuts of the pin side of the joint, having already made one tail side cut. Increasing the number of shim results in a looser fit; fewer shims give a tighter joint.

As the shims are only 0.25mm in thickness adding one shim has very little effect upon the fit. When making initial test cuts to set the joint fit, I start with a change of two or three shims and make a second test cut. As you approach a neat fit reduce the number of shims added or subtracted. Once a neat fit that easily goes together with light pressure has been reached make a note of the number of shims used. This will be the same for any subsequent set-up using the same template and cutters.

Dovetail joints have two components, the pin and the tail sides. Gifkins recommend cutting the tails first. The workpiece is set against the backboard with its end edge hard down on the template and moved left and right for a symmetrical fit either side of the edge template pins. The work overlap should be about a half dovetail width. If the end tail piece is too thin it is likely to split when the cut is made.

The two hand-screw tightened stops are set to position and hold the work against the backboard. A clamp is used to securely hold the workpiece during cutting. Each stop has a clamp bracket to supports the work holding clamp securely against the backboard. Photo 4 shows the workpiece clamped in the jig ready to cut.

The selected cutter is inserted into the router collet and its height adjusted. To adjust, place an off-cut of exactly the same thickness as the workpiece on top of the template and adjust the router lift so the top of the cutter is approximately 0.5mm above the timber. This is not critical but results in a small extension of the pin (and tail) through the joint which facilitates final finishing to a smooth joint surface (photo 5).

With the work held tightly in position cutting can proceed. This simply entails carefully and slowly moving the whole jig, with the work securely clamped in position as above, so the selected cutter enters the work guided by the template. Generally you move it with a slight pressure to one side on the way in, and on the other side on the way out. This ensures the cut is accurate. The jig throws a lot of chips around, so I wear eye and ear protection and recommend a full face cover PPE system.

If making a box or drawer frame, the workpiece already cut is rotated in the jig, keeping the same face towards you. This ensures any small error in centring the work does not result in a step in the joint edge. Repeat the cutting procedure. Do the same with the other end-piece of the box or drawer.

Next, change the cutter to the pin unit, setting height as before. Place the other side workpieces in the jig, on the opposite side, i.e. if you cut the tails first change to the dovetail side of the jig, using the same stop positions. Do not release the stops in between cuts. This emphasises the need to ensure all sides of a box or drawer structure are exactly the same width. With careful selection of shims, the resultant joint should fit tightly but slip easily together without straining the pins or tails.

The Gifkins jig is an excellent tool for simple joint layouts as in small boxes and drawers. Its real advantage is that the joint fit set-up is not required every time you use it, once you have determined the number of shims for a specific template and cutter set.

The other major advantage is that the joint cutting process is much faster than with other jigs, and unless you are an accomplished joiner, faster and more accurate than hand cutting. The handbook is comprehensive and has a section on more advanced joint layouts using spacers available from Gifkins.

Overall I am very impressed with the unit. When carefully set up the results are excellent, the fit is perfect and cutting dovetail joints is no longer a three hour job. Be aware, however, that it is used primarily for through dovetails and is not normally used for more complicated dovetail joints.

Gifkins dovetail jigs are available from https://www.gifkins.com.au/

John McBratney is retired electronics engineer and home joinery maker who lives in Lancefield, Victoria 3435.