Unlimited width dovetailing system with overhead clamp

An apparatus for holding a workpiece and guiding a router while cutting dovetails in an upper edge of the workpiece, said apparatus comprising

• a base plate for attachment to a stationary fixture,
• a pair of blocks attached to the base plate,
• a beam which rests on the base plate, said beam having a rear face abutting against the blocks,
• a dovetail template for a router, said template being affixed to said beam, and
• an overhead clamping mechanism for holding a workpiece in a vertical plane against a front face of said beam, said mechanism including a pair of bars each having a fixed jaw pivotally bearing against a respective one of said blocks and having an offset portion which extends over the workpiece's upper edge, a pair of movable jaws, one on each of said bars, an elongate clamping member extending between the movable jaws, and a pair of clamping screws, each passing through a threaded hole in its respective jaw and into said elongate member,
• whereby one can lower the clamping member over the workpiece edge, move the jaws on the bars until the clamping member strikes the workpiece, and then turn each screw to increase the clamping force on the workpiece.