I "owe" boxes with dovetail joints to a few of my friends, so I have been
shopping for dovetail jigs. Unfortunately, I'm a just a greenie and have
never used one of these before, this is getting awfully confusing.

What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut enough
different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately buy _another_
one.

I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

To make matters worse, I'm not sure just how many boxes I expect to make
in the next couple of years. There's a reasonable possibility that it could
be more than a few. Or maybe I'll stop at two or three.

Any advice anyone could offer me, or web pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jim Helfer
Pittsburgh PA

The Keller journeymen's jig is about as simple as it gets and does a nice
dovetail.

--
Mike G.
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Jim Helfer" wrote in message
...

I "owe" boxes with dovetail joints to a few of my friends, so I have been
shopping for dovetail jigs. Unfortunately, I'm a just a greenie and have
never used one of these before, this is getting awfully confusing.

What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut enough
different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately buy
_another_
one.

I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing
to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more
limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to
go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

To make matters worse, I'm not sure just how many boxes I expect to make
in the next couple of years. There's a reasonable possibility that it
could
be more than a few. Or maybe I'll stop at two or three.

Any advice anyone could offer me, or web pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jim Helfer
Pittsburgh PA

I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

I'm a relative newbie (got the shop together about 1 year ago) and
ended up buying the Leigh, and couldn't be happier with it.

The manual is quite lengthy, but that's just because you can do so
much with this jig. But if you want to just cut some half blind
dovetails, you can learn it in a couple of hours. The whole thing
made complete sense to me, and I wouldn't trade it for any other jig.
It took perhaps an hour to put together, and the very first test cut I
made was PERFECT. I'd like to make a quick reference chart for setup
on common cuts, laminate them, and post it on the wall, but when I got
back in the shop after taking the summer off, the first thing I made
was 4 drawers, and only had to take about 20 minutes to refresh my
memory on how to do things.

I'm thinking of buying a smaller router just for the jig. I have the
dewalt 621 and it's a bit heavy to do some hand work. Usually this
router just sits in my table.

I have the Leigh and like it...if I was to do over I might seriously
consider this style...

http://www.akedajigs.com/

check out the "comparison chart"


"Jim Helfer" wrote in message
...

I "owe" boxes with dovetail joints to a few of my friends, so I have been
shopping for dovetail jigs. Unfortunately, I'm a just a greenie and have
never used one of these before, this is getting awfully confusing.

What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut enough
different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately buy
_another_
one.

I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing
to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more
limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to
go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

To make matters worse, I'm not sure just how many boxes I expect to make
in the next couple of years. There's a reasonable possibility that it
could
be more than a few. Or maybe I'll stop at two or three.

Any advice anyone could offer me, or web pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jim Helfer
Pittsburgh PA

"Larry Bud" wrote in message
om...
I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing
to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but
of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more
limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to
go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

I'm a relative newbie (got the shop together about 1 year ago) and
ended up buying the Leigh, and couldn't be happier with it.

The manual is quite lengthy, but that's just because you can do so
much with this jig. But if you want to just cut some half blind
dovetails, you can learn it in a couple of hours. The whole thing
made complete sense to me, and I wouldn't trade it for any other jig.
It took perhaps an hour to put together, and the very first test cut I
made was PERFECT. I'd like to make a quick reference chart for setup
on common cuts, laminate them, and post it on the wall, but when I got
back in the shop after taking the summer off, the first thing I made
was 4 drawers, and only had to take about 20 minutes to refresh my
memory on how to do things.

I'm thinking of buying a smaller router just for the jig. I have the
dewalt 621 and it's a bit heavy to do some hand work. Usually this
router just sits in my table.



Thanks for the good report. I know people really like the Lee Valley
stuff, although it's more money. It' snot more moeny than 2 dovetail jigs
though, and since I know that I want to do through, blind and box, I wnat
something that will do all three.

Jim H

In article , says...

Thanks for the good report. I know people really like the Lee Valley
stuff, although it's more money. It's not more moeny than 2 dovetail jigs
though, and since I know that I want to do through, blind and box, I wnat
something that will do all three.

At the severe risk of being flamed, I bought a Craftsman dovetail jig
with an additional box joint template. Not the cheapie, but their
"professional" one. I don't even know if they still make it. I bought
mine about 4-5 years ago.

It is a pain to assemble, but once that's done it's easy to use. Spacing
is fixed, although after you look at the templates for awhile you'll
notice that it wouldn't be impossible to make your own.

BTW, your first task should be to duplicate the templates using a pattern
following bit - DAMHIKT.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?

On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:58:02 -0400, "Jim Helfer"
wrote:

What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut enough
different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately buy _another_
one.

Take a look at the Stots jig www.stots.com I did a lot of
head-scratching and ordered the Akeda jig, but they are not shipping
because of a building fire, or something. I waited two months, but the
project couldn't wait any longer. It was a project that did not
require lots of different setups, so I decided to give the Stots a
whirl.

The Stots "Make it Right Dovetail Template Master"(tm) is
nothing but a pattern for making your own through-dovetail jig. You
end up with something functionally equal to a Keller jig, but you did
it yourself and the 'master' only costs $40. You need two bits: a half
inch pattern cutter and an 8 degree DT bit, 1/2 inch diameter, 13/16
inch cutting length, with a 5/8 inch bearing guide (another $40 if you
need them).

The jigs you make are not adjustable but you can cut them
based on multiples or combinations of multiples of the basic 1 inch
pattern, so you can make dovetails in various patterns (which a Keller
cannot on its own), and you can make any length jig you want. You can
cut angled DTs as long as you stay in the same plane as the workpiece.
(I have not yet figured out how to make compound angled DTs, but I
believe it's doable.) Once you make your jig and align it, the jig
works perfectly until you screw up and cut into it - then you just get
out the master and make another jig.

Different stock thicknesses are not a problem. The basic jig
alignment is done once, to set how 'tight' or 'loose' you want your
DTs, regardless of stock thickness. Each time you use the jig you have
to set the bit depth, but that is done by eyeball in about ten
seconds. Basically, this jig is very easy to use.

I am looking at 20 drawers, and making one jig to work 80
identical pins and 80 identical tails is perfect for the Stots. If you
want something that sets up fast for variable spacing, or that cuts
half-blind DTs (you can fake half-blinds with the Stots, but if it's
case construction the work-around is no good) *and* through DTs, then
spend the $400 on a Leigh or an Akeda. If you want to have a little
fun and save a lot of money, get the Stots. Google it and you will
finds several positive reviews and hints for making simple or
elaborate variations on the basic setup. I get FWW and their review
put me off this jig for a long time. Now that I'm using the jig, I can
see the review was flawed.

Oh yeah, I think you are limited to using 13/16 inch stock or
thinner. The DT bit isn't tall enough for anything larger, and I'm
betting that the template limits you to using this bit for the tails.
=====
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.
=====
{remove curly brackets for email}

On Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:58:02 -0400, "Jim Helfer"
wrote:


I "owe" boxes with dovetail joints to a few of my friends, so I have been
shopping for dovetail jigs. Unfortunately, I'm a just a greenie and have
never used one of these before, this is getting awfully confusing.

look here"
www.katiejig.com

got one. zero learning curve. works like a champ.

TomL

I cut mine on the bandsaw and it's actually a lot easier than you
might think. Lonnie Bird's book has a good explanation of how to do
it. Frank Klausz video is also very helpful. I would say it
requires:
1. a chisel and the ability to sharpen it
2. a bandsaw with a fine blade (I use 3/8", 10tpi, although I am
considering getting a blade with higher tpi. Having it at least 3/8"
wide really helped me guide the blade.)
3. courage

Mark

"Jim Helfer" wrote in message ...
I "owe" boxes with dovetail joints to a few of my friends, so I have been
shopping for dovetail jigs. Unfortunately, I'm a just a greenie and have
never used one of these before, this is getting awfully confusing.

What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut enough
different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately buy _another_
one.

I've been looking at jigs from Rockler, Keller, and Leigh. I'm willing to
spend money for a tool that will make me smile everytime I use it, but of
course, I don't want to over-spend, but I'm afraid of buying a more limited
jig, finding out that it doesn't do something that I want, and having to go
buy the expensive one in the first place!

To make matters worse, I'm not sure just how many boxes I expect to make
in the next couple of years. There's a reasonable possibility that it could
be more than a few. Or maybe I'll stop at two or three.

Any advice anyone could offer me, or web pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Jim Helfer
Pittsburgh PA

Larry Bud wrote:

snip

I'm thinking of buying a smaller router just for the jig. I have the
dewalt 621 and it's a bit heavy to do some hand work. Usually this
router just sits in my table.

Huh? The DW 621 is probably the lightest plunge router out there.
For that matter it's one of the lightest routers of any kind other
than a trim router.

The original poster's criteria

"What I am looking for is a jig that's reasonably easy to use,(good
documentation or an instructional video would be cool), and can cut
enough different types of joints so that I won't need to immediately
buy _another_one."

The "different types of joints" part sort of rules out the
Keller and its type. That puts him in the Akeda/Leigh jigs
price range
OR
a router table with fence positioning system and postioning
templates - like the Incra and JoinTech. With them you don't
need special bits and collars AND you've got a versatile
fence system.

Because the jigs require additional expense to get a good
range of joint sizes, the total cost of the fence positioning
systems are in the same total price range.

charlie b