Harbor Freight Dovetail Jig -- $29.99

[Charlie]

Deleted by me.

[Al R.]

yes..it is what you pay, most of the time, not always

I had the same jig ( Woodstock brand ) for about an hour before I took it back to the store and bought a Porter-Cable. The top isn't flat and is probably why he had to use the C clamps, and dovetails in soft wood don't impress me. You get what you pay for. Is it junk ? In my opinion it is. Infact that fixed me from ever buying anything again with the Woodstock name on it, or similar products. This thread is also over 3 years old, so don't expect to get it at the price the thread shows it was for.

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Of course you get what you pay for. I was a jet airforce pilot in the past (out of the States). You can get a jet for 23 million dollars or a single engine for 40, 000, it does not matter which is more expensive; you will arrive with both to the same destination safe. Same with tools in general.
The question you should ask is:
Do I have enough money for the expensive buy? Or I better buy the cheaper one and take my family for a trip, or do something else, or pay my bills? Do I need the jig for everyday use? Do I need it for my business? Do I need it for a single project once in a while? Do I need it to show my buddies that even do I have my pocket empty I buy expensive tools?
Last time I went to HF and with a coupon discount the price was more or less the same, no matter the post is 3 yrs old. The soft or hard wood is nothing if you have a good router with a good bit and do the job slowly; so, nothing about “impressions” there.
The template was flat (mine is aluminum), I know that old jigs had it plastic, not anymore. The clamps where needed just to avoid any possible movement, but actually if you do not clamp in the back (the knobs) hardly it should be fine, but I did it for security. The weight of the router by itself already will help to keep the template in place as well, just go slow on the pass. You can also build beside the jig some wooden stoppers. I enjoy myself adding some shop made upgrades, it has help me as a woodworker to brainstorm new ideas in the past; and I always remember that 60-100 yrs ago, carpenters and woodworkers did not have even those “cheap machines”, or super SS metals… and did marvelous jobs by hand. So, if I combine my hand work with those ones, it should get me to “my destination”.

[Al R.]

Thanks for the post with the pictures. Good to know the manual is so easy to get. Grizzly does do a good job with documentation.

I am not sure just what the two red C clamps are doing seems like the screws there already hold the guide down.


Bill, over here on the other ocean

Yourwelcome Bill.

[Charlie]

Deleted by me.

[drillman88]

My Dad is a brick mason, the tools he use are as simple as any to be found. A trowel, a level, a tape measure and some string. He makes beautiful things with these, the skill and experience involved far outweigh the type of tools involved. He is a true craftsman, with 50 years of making a living with his tools and hands. By far the most important tool he has is between his ears.If you gave him HF tools the work would be the same, the tools may not last as long, but the quality would be at the same level.
For the most part the tool isn't any better than the person using it. Better tools may save time or make something easier, but we can generally get the tool that fits our budget to do the job needed, and still send our kids to college.

[Al R.]

I understand not everyone can afford the best, I certainly can't, I didn't buy a Leigh dovetail jig, I bought about a $125 Porter-Cable 12" dovetail jig that looks fairly similar to the one your ranting about but doesn't have the cam locks. The deck of the PC machine is flat, it came with a good bit and aluminum template. The quality control on the PC is better, and different templates are available locally. Anyone that knows anything about tools knows that cheap tools are cheap tools and down the road will cost you more money and time then if you had boughten something with atleast a little bit of quality. If you can't afford a better tool, look for a used one, or a refurbished one, or build it yourself. That my friend is how you do it, you don't do it by buying junk several times. Been there, done that, learned my lesson several times that the quality of the finished prodject that your makeing suffers, takes more time, and in the middle of a prodject you have a tool that breaks, if you can live with that, great, I'd rather not. When I see people promoting HF tools I think two things, either they haven't had much experience with tools, or they are makeing a commision, or both.

Dear experienced woodworker, your hate for HF tools does not make any difference to me. What is junk for you, maybe is not junk for others, your opinion does not have to match everybody else opinion. HFtools has not has to be so bad for everybody as it is for you, and everybody that visit and buy at HF is not stupid or inexpert. I do not make any commission from HFtools, I have spent many yrs studying to avoid that, and I have used tools since childhood (I'm 45).

[Charlie]

Deleted by me.

[herb fellows]

If you don't care what others think, why are you trying to sell HF on us ?

Hey, the guy has experience with the tool, he likes it, he's telling people here about his experience. Period.
Nobody is asking you to go buy the tool, chill out!

[BadeMillsap]

I have used the HF Dovetail jig with success ...

As I mentioned in the posts about this toy chest all done with the ""cheap" HF Dovetail jig ... my first dovetails ever ...

Zach's Toy Box

I believe it came out fine ... just takes patience in the setup ...

[Al R.]

As I mentioned in the posts about this toy chest all done with the ""cheap" HF Dovetail jig ... my first dovetails ever ...

Zach's Toy Box

I believe it came out fine ... just takes patience in the setup ...

I like it. I saw a guy on Youtube that did a similar one but he added an arc on the bottom, done in the BS (the arc). Thanks for sharing it,
Al.

[JSUPreston]

Not meaning to stir the pot TOO much, but I have to respond to Charlie and his reaction towards HF tools.

This reminds me of a discussion I had nearly 20 years ago with my old high school band director. We were talking about the quality of name brand horns. I made some off hand remark about some horn that another kid was playing and about what a piece of junk it was. My band director told me that a great musician like Doc Severensen could take a $50 Chinese made trumpet and make it sound almost as good as a $20,000 custom built trumpet. His point was that in the hands of a true artist, even bad equipment can do wonderful things. Likewise, the worst player in the band might sound only marginally better with the custom horn. The talent is what shows through.

Charlie, are you right about cheaper tools taking longer to setup, maybe a little more fussy to work with, etc.? Do cheaper tools sometimes hold us back? Most likely, you are correct on both accounts. However, if I can get the same results with a $10 tool that I can get with a $50 tool by working with it for just a minute or two longer, I'm doing pretty good. Honestly, as little spare money as we have at my house right now, it's hard to justify any purchase. I just took and spent ALL my b'day money at HF, and my shopping list was mostly based on favorable reviews from this site. Had I gone elsewhere, about all I could've gotten was a drill press table. Thanks to the reviews from here, I also got a very accurate 6" digital caliper, a pair of toggle clamps, fortsner bits and a set of brand point bits. Oh yeah, I splurged and used the 20% coupon and got the multitool. Even with it's few shortcomings that have been discovered here, I can go through several of those tools before even coming close to the cost of a Fein.

BTW: I've been guilty of snobbery at times. I got rid of my BT3100 several years ago to get a Delta contractor's saw and Biesemeyer fence. I do prefer the heavier saws, but I make just as crappy a sawdust pile with a saw setup that retails for over $700 as I did with the $299 BT3100. Sometimes I know I've run out of talent before I've run out of time or materials.

Charlie, I don't believe I've ever taken anyone to task on this forum before, but I will say this, if you don't like the HF tools, that is fine and you're entitled to your opinion. However, unless you've had direct experience with the tools being discussed, I would suggest that you keep your attitude and comments to yourself. Anything else, and we start getting thread crapping on here, and there's enough of that on other forums. Let's try to keep thing encouraging around here.

Mods, if I've gone too far, please feel free to let me know...it's late, I'm tired and haven't slept well in nearly 2 weeks...and when I get this way I tend to speak my mind a little too freely.

[Charlie]

Deleted by me.