[ger21]

Could you do that, that is, limit the size of the stock so the stock would not be gouged.

Indirectly, I will. But I'm not going to lock the user into a certain size.

Another idea: Is there some way you can make it so that the dovetails would not necessarily be evenly spaced?

Yes. What I've shown is only for equally spaced half blind dovetails. When I get that how I want it, then I'll move on to unequally spaced, which is far more complex.

There seems to be a bit of a trade off here between the three

With CNC, you never have to trade off accuracy or repeatability. But as a developer, you can't make everyone happy either. So while I'll listen to everyone's opinion, they can't all be obliged.

The glue forces speed on you as it sets up relatively quickly,

I really like using polyurethane (gorilla) glue for dovetails. It gives you a lot of working time, and actually acts as a lubricant, aiding in assembly. You just have to be extra neat with it. But if you get any foaming in the box, it's easily cleaned up with a sharp chisel when cured.

I suggest thinking about the whole process and the CNC cutting the dovetails as part of that process, and not just thinking about the CNC cutting isolated from the making the final product.

My goal is to offer as much flexibility as possible, within reason.

[Mick40]

Gerry,

Thanks for taking this on!!! I look forward towards cutting my first drawer.

Mick

[louieatienza]

As to the half blind dovetails, the face can pretty much be any thickness you want. If you rout both face and side at the same time you only need to be sure teh sides are the same thickness. However when fitting drawers in a more traditional setting, I'd rather have them just a tad wider, then use a plane and scraper to achieve as much a "piston-fit" as possible.

Gerry, are you also going to have options to select different dovetail angles? Traditionally softwood dovetails have more angle than hardwood dovetails, and the different bits are available... or does the math work out regardless of angle?

[ger21]

Any angle you want, and any depth up to the length of the bit. I use trig to calculate the spacing based on depth and bit angle.


You're right, the thickness of the front doesn't matter. I probably need a new graphic to illustrate that only the side thickness is important.

[steve123]

This looks really good Gerry. Your screen is very easy to understand. You are way ahead of the average programmer in that regard!

I am designing my machine to travel 1.6" past the end of the table so that I can do dovetails. Maybe I'll be cutting them 2013.

I have wondered about having a tall enough table. Do people usually clamp the drawer fronts on top of the router table with the drawer sides vertical?

[ger21]

You are way ahead of the average programmer in that regard!

But not being a programmer sets me much farther behind everywhere else. One example of that is that my preview was disappearing right after it was drawn. It took me 3 hours of searching to find a fix for it, and actually get the fix to work.

Do people usually clamp the drawer fronts on top of the router table with the drawer sides vertical?

That's how I plan on doing it. If you did it the other way around, you wouldn't see the dovetails. (with half blind dovetails anyway)

[ger21]

When I looked at this preview, I really liked what I was seeing. Until I realized they couldn't be done with a router

A little more interface work to do, then I can start working on g-code and file saving.

[zool]

Didn't read much but its lead

Dovetail Wizard CNC

[RomanLini]

For someone who is "not a programmer" you seem to be doing a very good job of it Gerry!

Mind you I've seen trained "programmers" who could not build a nice application like yours to save their life. Some people excel in what they do and some just make a mess of everything they do, go figure.

[kevincnc]

For someone who is "not a programmer" you seem to be doing a very good job of it Gerry!

Mind you I've seen trained "programmers" who could not build a nice application like yours to save their life. Some people excel in what they do and some just make a mess of everything they do, go figure.

That!s what I was thinking. Great work so far Gerry. Did you say how much you plan to charge for it?

[kevincnc]

When I looked at this preview, I really liked what I was seeing. Until I realized they couldn't be done with a router

A little more interface work to do, then I can start working on g-code and file saving.

Why not? I!m not seeing the problem..

[ger21]

Why not? I!m not seeing the problem..

The pins can't be smaller than the bit, which they were in that screen shot.

I've added a few more options that were needed, and actually got some g-code out of it this morning.

[kevincnc]

The pins can't be smaller than the bit, which they were in that screen shot.

I've added a few more options that were needed, and actually got some g-code out of it this morning.

Nice..I assume you won!t know a cost until you!re done with it. What language are you writing it in?

[ger21]

Sorry, I was on my way out the door and forgot about the price part. I have a rough idea, but I'm not going to even say right now.
I've seen too many instance over the years where everyone wants to know the price way before a product is finished, and then they complain if it ends up costing more.

I'm doing it in VB.net
I'm learning it as I go, so it's a bit slow going at times.

[dirktheeng]

So this looks very similar to cambium machines program but better looking.

http://www.cambiummachines.com

That software does several common woodworking tasks and can be bought for about $30

I am very interested in something like this or cambium. However, what I really want is something that will do the incra style joinery and even more. There is no reason why we should not be using our freakishly expensive cnc equipment to do all of our common woodworking tasks and much much more. If this program could be used to quickly set up the common woodworking stuff along with ornate joinery it would be a big hit in my mind.

The second thing is that our community really needs an open source program. We need the flexibility to get software that we can modify and add functionality to. I have been very frustrated in that I often find a good product that does 80% of what I want to do but because it is being sold for some nominal fee, I can't get access to the code to make it do what I want... Then I'm at the mercy of some developer who puts my requests at the bottom of a list.

It is totally your prerogative as a developer to close code and sell it, but I would plead with you to consider an open source model. If I can't find an open source program, I will probably write my own in python and gtk and start a github so that anybody interested can start working with me to develop extended functionality.

[zool]

Cambium Machines youtube video of cutting dovetails. Works with SketchUp.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gT5icRbjc8]Introduction to Dovetails - YouTube[/ame]

[ger21]

I thought I should do some testing, to make sure I know what I'm doing. :idea:

So I warmed up the garage, and made a little fixture to allow me to cut some dovetails, as I won't be able to actually cut long parts on my current router.

Other than a minor mistake in the last line of g-code, they came out incredibly good, imo.

Nearly a perfect fit, too. They could have been a little tighter, but it's a remarkably good fit for the first try. This is going to make it incredibly easy to make dovetails and other joints. The most difficult thing will be making a clamping fixture, and making sure it's square and aligned to the machine.

I'm still months away from releasing this, so don't get too excited just yet.

I've got video of the test cuts being processed, and I'll get it on YouTube as soon as it's done, and I'll post a link.

[kevincnc]

Awesome, nice work. I have a jig but now I'm making a little change to my machine-in-progress to allow for easy fixturing. :cheers:

[ger21]

Here's the video.

Dovetail G-Code Generator First Test Cuts. - YouTube

[domino11]

Looks pretty good Ger! I am sure a lot of people
will be looking forward to this release!