Dovetail jig

Ned Bulken

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Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
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Anyone recognize the Brand of DT Jig in this photo? It might just be following me home later today.
 

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Sorry I can't be of help but beware! if it follows you home you'll be condemned to it for rest of your life, making thousands of boxes, drawers, etc. :D:D
 
toni...
this is one of those 'but honey, I needed that to make the stuff you wanted' buys... plus it is cheap enough even I can divert funds to it. Both Mark and Grizz have jigs, but they're not in my shop...

the unit only handles up to 12" stock, but hey, that's enough to get my feet wet.
 
Ned,
It's pretty much a 'generic' DT jig. I've seen them at MLCS, Hartville Hardware, Woodworkers Supply, Rocklers, even Harbor Freight. A lumber supplier that I used to patronize when I lived in California used to sell them, too.

I have one (from the CA supplier). I think I paid around $50 for it, maybe ten or twelve years ago. You'll need a 7/16" bushing for your router, and a 14° dovetail bit.

Even though I also have a Leigh D4 jig, and I also bought that used Porter Cable jig from Bill Hylton at Five Barns last Summer, I still pull out that old jig when I just need to do a couple 'quick' half blind dovetails for drawers, etc.

Set up is pretty quick with it. The cutting depth setting for the bit is the only critical part, and after you get it right, just cut a guage for that in some scrap and save it. That way, you can use it forever after to make subsequent setups quick and easy.

If the price is decent, I'd say go for it.

BTW, does it come with a manual/setup instructions? If not, I'll see if I still have/can find mine for you.
 
Jim,
that's about what I figure this one is. $30 is all it is listed for, so I Hope the seller holds up his end and doesn't sell it out from under me... but for that price I can't go too far wrong. I'll have to see what comes with it, the listing was pretty sketchy. I'll see if he will part with the collar as well, hope so, but worse comes to worst there's always HF.
 
Ned I've got one of those. As Jim mentioned, they can be picked up at many places. It works pretty well, but will take some time to setup. Once setup you may want to gauging the thickness of the material that it was setup for and keep all your projects consistently that thickness, as it is a pain to setup. :)

Instructions weren't that great with mine, but I got through it. I've used it several times and has paid for itself again and again. Also, might make a gauge for the bit depth by simply cutting a dado wide and deep enough for the guide bushing to pass and rout out a space in the wood for the ideal bit depth.
 
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Anyone recognize the Brand of DT Jig in this photo? It might just be following me home later today.

Looks like HF's version of the Rockler. Not quite the same thing. My Rockler actually does pretty well for as simple as it is. I wouldn't want to do a lot with it but the occasional joint is OK.
 
Ned,
As mentioned, it is the generic dovetail jig. The one from HF had aluminum templates whereas others only has plastic that got a bad rap for bending. The HF jig used to go for about $25 or $30 on sale. I picked up the router bits at MLCS which have worked well.

As for instructions, check out Woodstock Int. (same jig)
http://www.woodstockint.com/Products/23000000/

Also Grizzly had additional templates for them as well - for box joints etc.

Rockler also has some items that soup-up the jig a bit, but if I remember they have plastic templates.

If it comes with a bit etc, it may be worth the $30. Otherwise, I'd just wait and get a HF unit on sale.

FWIW,
Wes
 
Congrats, Ned. I think you came out good for the price. I've got the Rockler version. (With both the half-blind and through dovetail templates.) I bought it in the relatively early days of my woodworking revival...one of several tools I bought back then that I didn't really need, but everyone else had one so I figured I should, too. I've only used it to make a few test joints, and one paper towel holder, but I've hung onto it knowing it will come in handy for projects in the future. Now that I've got an Incra rig on my router table, I also have that option for dovetails, but for a stack of drawers or something similar, I think the "comb" DT jig will be faster.
 
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