Stopped Dovetail

[JamesA (jamesallen13@sbcglobal.net)]

Hello All!
New to CNC, but a long time woodworker. I bought the 5Pro.
Using carbide create, how do you produce a stopped dovetail path?

Thanks!

[Emmess (Matthias Solga)]

here is an attempt:

CNC Dovetail Joints

here is another:

Ep 3: CNC Dovetail Joinery - How to cut them on a CNC router!

With a CNC one will not get those sharp corners that can be cut with a chisel.

I recommend to consider different types of joints:

How to best create CNC-friendly wood joinery

So I’ve made a few projects so far, and for each I’ve manually put in dogbones and such, but I’m aiming to do some more complex stuff now, and the prospect of intricately creating dogbones for each inner corner throughout the piece of furniture is super daunting. Plus, I’ve come across some really interesting CNC-specific joinery options that look beautiful. [Screen Shot 2020-04-06 at 12.25.04 am] (that’s from the Instructables 50 Digital Joints) Also come across this in Make Magazine: …

[JamesA (jamesallen13@sbcglobal.net)]

Thank you for your response. I was not looking to make a dovetail joint for a box. I was making a dovetail path (sliding dovetail) for a carcass construction.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Carbide Create does not support that tool geometry.

One can cut them, just one has to take the 3D appearance of the cut on faith:

Sharing Carbide Create Dovetail Files

Hi All I am new to this entire process. Have anyone created any dovetail joints using Carbide Create? If you have can you please upload a your carbide create file. Thanks in advance

For what you show above, you can just assign a No Offset Contour toolpath using the dovetail tool (might want to clear the central part first) — you’ll just have to have the geometry double back on itself.

Alternately, if it’s not too long, use a keyhole toolpath.

[JamesA (jamesallen13@sbcglobal.net)]

Thanks WillAdams. I assume that i just keep the start depth and bottom depth the same for the final path? I had planned to do a roughing path to save the dovetail bit. I assume the the roughing pass I can add as a separate pocket path…unless there is a better way? For the vertically mounted mating piece, would multiple consecutive contour paths be my best bet? (I do plan on buying jointcam software at some point.)

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

For this sort of thing, I always draw up the tool/cut in outline/profile, then use a slightly smaller tool than the top of the cut and cut as a pocket down to the necessary depth, then you can set up the full-depth cut using the dovetail tool.

Then, test the whole thing in a piece of scrap, ideally something easily cut which won’t damage the dovetail tool.