From there, it was the dreaded task of trying to figure out the VS 600 for the first time. The directions were pitiful. A few Google searches turned up a couple of helpful tutorials, but even they skipped lots of steps. It was a huge pain to figure out, and not at all intuitive. Here are both pieces in proper orientation. You'll see a mix of SZ 14 and SZ 20 templates because I was experimenting with both. This just shows the setup--as I discovered later, I had a few things wrong:
This is the plate that is inserted into the bottom of the router (OF 1400). Note the lip on the protruding guide, which keeps the router under the finger and in place as you guide it. Notice also that the dust extraction is severely compromised with this plate in place. Suction is maintained, but it's not enough to pull the chips through:
Here's the setup after I corrected the vertical board by offsetting it to the right using the little black knob that's keyed to whatever template you're using:
Here's what it looks like after you've used the router on the fingers:
To set the depth, you plunge the router until it kisses the wood. Then plunge it an additional amount. I started with 12 mm, which gave me this fit:
As I discovered, when a dovetail is loose fitting, deepen the cut. I went to 15 mm and it was perfect. Here are the boards before removing them:
And here is the resulting fit:
From there it was clean-up time. Here you can see how lousy a job the dust extraction is when that sizing ring is in place in the router base:
Here's the fit, unsanded. I was very happy (and probably blessed with good luck) at how nicely it fit. Snug, but room for glue:
Next I cut a channel in the piece that would be horizontal. That'll hold the steel frame of the picture in place. Its own weight will hold it against the wall. I did this with a table saw, and since I can't use a dado I just moved the fence a kerf-width each time until it was wide enough. It was a pretty sloppy way to do it:
I had to clean it up with a chisel:
Next was glue and clamping for one-half hour:
And then sizing it on the Kapex again, cutting through both the horizontal and vertical pieces at the same time so that the ends were perfect:
i sanded the channel first with a special head for the LS 130:
Then on to more sanding with the ETS 125, using Rubin 120 and then Brilliant 220:
Then a slight rounding off the edges with the DX 93:
All that yielded a nice piece, reading for finishing and hanging:
This is my first attempt ever at dovetailing. It's a lot of darn work, but now that I know how to set up the VS 600, it should go really quickly next time. I just love the look of half-blind dovetails with contrasting wood color.
If I can answer any questions about using the VS 600, I'd be glad to give it a shot.
