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I am still waiting for my dovetail bit to come in...in the meantime I built the neck tenon jig based on the one they show on the stewart mac page. It ready to go....or is it?

The question is: What is the relationship of the bit verses the bearing. I made my jig (patern following setup) to 1-1 like you would a staight pattern bit. Now that I look at the 9/16" dovetail bits, it would appear they use a 1/2" or 9/16" bearing. If I am thinking right, I would then need to alter my jig to compensate for the bearing being the same size as the bottom of the cutter. Does that sound right?

I guess the easiest way to ask is, is your dovetail template 1 for 1 to your final dovetail, or is the template smaller than the final dovetail (Due to the bearing)?

If that is the case, can I just change the 1/2" bearing to a 1/4" bearing and leave the jig as is?

Thanks,

Joe

PS: It would have helped to have the bit first!

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Joe

When I did dovetails, I used a 1/2 inch bit and a 7/16 collar - no bearing ... I think the bottom line is you set up your jig to be successful with whatever bit setup you have. It wont really matter, as the depth setting of the dovetail bit will change everything anyway regardless of the collar/bearing. As well, you need to make the female dovetail deeper than the necks male counterpart, in order to leave a gap in there for future steaming off of the neck (ie .. if the neck dovetail is 1/2 inch deep, then the body cavity should be 9/16 to 5/8 ....)

Try your jigs on some scrap first to get an idea of the settings required.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I'm a bit not sure what you are asking but here is what I do and I too use a bit and templates from Stewmac.
Cut the dovetail in the box and I cut it about 3/4"deep. Then I install the neck in my jig and start cutting until I have a full dovetail (depth 5/8") but but enough to fit fully into the box. Then I take the neck out of the jig and test it fit it into the box. Now my jig is adjustable for neck angle so I check at this point to see if the neck angle is what I want, If not then I adjust it and am always adding more angle so this doesn't change the location of the dovetail along the neck but just the angle. Then I slide the template in a little more and make another cut. Each tine checking the angle and measuring how much more I need to go. I usually leave the neck about 1/16" proud of the top unless I am very confident that my angle and fit is good. Then I do the rest by hand.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.