TEMPLATE MAKER

By Thomas Giammo

BACKGROUND

The Template Maker program is used to construct templates for dovetail jigs, such as the Incra and the JointTech, which are based on precision fences with movement increments fixed in units of 1/32nd inch. These jigs are customarily used with pre-printed templates that require specific router bit configurations and produce only one specific dovetail pattern. Since each pre-printed template must be used for all possible board widths, it is left to the user to decide how to center the template pattern and to distinguish between tail and pin cuts (so as to insure that each end of the board is a partial pin and not a partial tail).

A significant feature of Template Maker is that it produces a template that is customized to the any dovetail specification chosen by the user - thus freeing the user from the need to be limited to a small class of specifications corresponding to a set of pre-printed templates. Since the template is printed to exactly fit the specified work piece width, also gone is the need to decide which cut lines on the template should correspond to pins and which to tails and to manually determine the "center" of the template pattern accordingly. Another advantage comes from Template Maker's ability to use any dovetail router bit that the user may find appropriate - and not be limited to the small set that are compatible with the pre-printed templates.

Yet, there are some restrictions. Version 1 of the Template Maker program will only produce templates for a class of dovetails that:

  1. End on partial pins.
  2. Have all tails the same size.
  3. Have all pins the same size, but different from the tail size.

These restrictions still leave the user free to specify the router bit to be used and the design characteristics of the dovetails in terms of various design parameters: the depth of cut, the number of tails, and the ratio of the tail size to the pin size.

A powerful feature of Template Maker is that it only offers the user choices that are compatible with the natural limitations of the jig - i.e. the jig's movement increments of 1/32nd of an inch. Thus, the user can never select a set of specification parameters that are not compatible with the jig, the workpiece, and the router bit.

As an additional bonus, Template Maker supports alternate approaches to making the tailboard rabbet cut and to determining the distance of the pin cuts into the pinboard.

The program assumes that the user is familiar with the basic operations of the jig and has some experience in using the jig with the templates furnished by the manufacturer and in accordance with the manufacturer's standard operating directions. The templates produced by this program differ somewhat from those of the manufacturer and thus require slightly different operating directions.

An extensive HELP file is included. It is highly recommended that the user consult this file and print out relevant topics to form an instruction manual for specific subjects.

RESOURCES

The installed Template Maker files require less than 550KB of hard disk space. The program requires, at a minimum, a 386 processor, VGA display, and Windows 3. A laser or inkjet printer is highly recommended. Ordinary printer paper may be used, although 20# stock is somewhat preferable.

INSTALLATION

The Template Maker files have been compressed into a single file, "dovetail.zip".
  1. Have Windows running.
  2. Copy dovetail.zip into any temporary directory of its own (a blank formatted floppy will do).
  3. After "unzipping" the file, execute "install" in that temporary directory.
  4. Respond to the install program's prompts about the desired permanent directory for the Template Maker files.

UNINSTALLATION

Since the install program neither creates nor alters any DOS or WINDOWS systems files, one may uninstall the Template Maker by simply deleting its directory and program group.

WHERE TO GET TEMPLATE MAKER

You can get the file dovetail.zip. And will also want to get this file (the one you're reading now without html markup) while there. It is called dovetail.txt.

CONTACT

tom@giammo.com

File converted to html format 8/07/95 by R.J.Brown

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