Unique and easy make dovetail neck mortise jig

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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Unique and easy make dovetail neck mortise jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

I've already made and posted the dovetail neck tenon jig that I made. This is the matching mortise.

I started to make a jig with hinges and adjustment handles, when I had a thought. I wondered if a system where dovetails could slide along a track would work. The advantages are:

1. No hardware to fool with
2. Both the front and back are angle adjustable, as well as thickness adjustable.
3. Easy to make with materials on hand
4. Collapsible and easy to store.

At first I was going to make the back only adjustable, but decided to do front and back. This is made of simple plywood that I have laying in the shop. The only thing that's needed is a dovetail mortise template.

Like the neck jig, I inlaid the template. This jig is ~ 10 7/8" wide. As you can see, I made dovetails to hold the back/front to the template wood. The plywood is 12mm thick, so I cut 13mm high straight pieces before the dovetails. They ride in 14mm wide slots, on each side. The front has an area cut out to allow router bit access. I cut an area down the center of the template pocket so I can see the centerline of the guitar, to line it up with the centerline to the mortise template. The jig is secured by a clamp on each side.

This simple jig can be made in an hour. As you can see, it isn't precision work. I cut fairly neatly, knocked off the boogers, and it's ready for use.

I think the photos are pretty self explanatory, so I won't get into how I made them. The dovetails are no specific angle; I just drew them and cut. They should have that straight area under them, at least as deep as your wood, so they can slide and adjust.

Of anyone has any questions, please ask!
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
BEJ
Posts: 171
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:38 am
Location: Seattle

Re: Unique and easy make dovetail neck mortise jig

Post by BEJ »

Diane, way kool, so brilliantly simple, but you take all the fun out of spending hours and a lot more funds to come up with this.....
Mmm should I just chuck it or maybe use what I can salvage to make something like your set up.

Bruce,
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Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Unique and easy make dovetail neck mortise jig

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

I started to make something very similar to yours. Then I started thinking of ways to simplify these jigs, plus make them more compact and easier to store. I like making jigs out of what I have on hand, without having to buy or order hardware. I live in WV. I'm lucky to have a Lowes and Home Depot in town, but they're smaller than those in large cities. I usually have to order hardware for jigs.

I've owned the templates for a long time and have put off making the jigs. The dovetail idea came to me as I was looking for hinges to use. Then, as I got the aluminum angle out to cut, it dawned on me that the dovetails could be used on both sides.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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