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Dave[_21_] Dave[_21_] is offline
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Default Ordered first dovetail jig


"Leon" wrote in message
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"mark" wrote in message
t...
Greetings All,
I was waffling between the PC 4212, the new Omnijig and Leigh jig. After
thinking for a while, I went with the 4212 for $169 inc shipping from
Amazon. I went this route because I mainly need it for drawer boxes,
nothing fancy. I must admit after watching the video (featuring Norm)
showing the Omni in action, I almost ordered one. But I thought about the
price difference and couldn't see the $300 more for the Omni. I know it
does a lot for the money and is probably a good deal, it's just more than
I need now. Maybe after a while I'll see limitations of the 4212 and
eventually upgrade, but for now I think I made the right choice. I'll
post my first time using it for anyone else thinking about a DT jig.
Mark


If you have never made DT's with a jig before a simple one is better to
learn on.

Having said that, the biggest draw back to the fixed spacing on the 4212
is that your projects, the drawers that you mentioned, will have to be
made to the size that the jig dictates. For proper beginnings and endings
of your DT joints you will be restricted to joint lengths that are
divisible by the distances between the fixed fingers on the jig. The
problem with this is that you will have to design you cabinet drawer
openings heights around the height of the drawer which is dictated by the
jig. With adjustable finger spacing jigs you simply adjust the fingers to
the width of the drawer side that was cut to fit the cabinet opening.
Basically the more simple fixed finger jigs are a case of the "tail
wagging the dog". Something to think about.

I have a Leigh D4 and like it a lot. I just purchased the new Prazzi
Chessmate jig and played around with it. It only cuts through dovetails, but
is a no-brainer to use. There's no limit to the length of boards or spacing
you can use with the jig.