Dovetail Jig?

[jeff_1064]

I am looking for a low cost dovetail jig to use in my high school woodworking classes. Anyone have any suggestions?

Jeff

[LCHIEN]

through? half-blind? Length? budget?

might try looking at Wood Magazine web site for issue indexes, i think they reviewed DT jigs in an isuue in the last year

[scorrpio]

Looks for 'Dovetail Jig' on ebay - you can easily find some in $40 range. Harbor Freight has one for $50, and it looks very much like the $40 ones on ebay. Only cuts half-blinds though.

[JSUPreston]

I know it may be a little controversial around here because of a licensing agreement, but have you looked into the Stot's system? Here is a review: http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchi...smithdove.html and here is the actual site: http://stots.com/tm.htm

[drumpriest]

What is your actual $$$ range. If you are in the super low end, yeah, these 50$ options could be for you. If you are in the 100-200$ range (which is still low end), take a look at the new Leigh super jig 12", or the porter cable 4210/4212

[gwyneth]

I believe the MLCS system got the highest ratings for low-cost dt jigs in either that article or another.

[LCHIEN]

I believe the MLCS system got the highest ratings for low-cost dt jigs in either that article or another.

this one:
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops...vetailjig.html

MLCS has free shipping and generaly stands well behind all their products, I have respect for their products and customer service. They have both Though and half blind DT jigs on this page.

and the review was in the March 2007 Wood Magazine.

[dkerfoot]

Porter Cable 4212 - 12" Dovetail Fixture - $139
http://www.etoolsrus.com/browse.cfm/4,4406.html

[Black wallnut]

Good layout tools, a sharp marking knife, dovetail saw, and sharp chisels.

The P-c 12" model has filled my needs in my small shop but itis limited in stock size and without added expense half-blind DT's.

[dkerfoot]

The P-c 12" model has filled my needs in my small shop but itis limited in stock size and without added expense half-blind DT's.

The 4212 includes half-blind, through and sliding dovetails.

It is the 4210 that only does half-blind (without additional templates)

[SARGE..g-47]

I am looking for a low cost dovetail jig to use in my high school woodworking classes. Anyone have any suggestions?

Jeff

Morning Jeff..

J.M. Patterson taught us as sophmores to cut em by hand in 1962 in the HS WW shop. J.M. has a high end furniture store now at age 68 and when the economy gets a little slow, he has sales as an incentive to move the top of the line factory furniture.

But.. when J.M. himself or some of us from his class put a piece in his store for consignment that includes "hand cut" DT's that don't have the give away of perfect spacing, he makes a few phone calls to his established, high-end, know-ledgeable long time clientele. That usually results in a sale on the piece within a couple of days with the highest bidder gettting it.

Perhaps with the "now" generation appearing in-capable of making change for $1.00 without an electronic cash register or hand calculator, relying on a machine is the accepted norm. Perhaps....

Just a few thoughts from a HS Wood-shop student from the early 60"s...

Regards...

[JimD]

For half-blind dovetails, I think the Harbor Freight jig is the way to go, especially with students. It is all metal so it is difficult to damage. The template guide is aluminum so it will not destroy a bit if a student makes a mistake (others are plastic so they are safe, just easy to damage). It is a little harder to setup than some but you can get decent instructions (the ones it comes with are terrible) and then show the students how. If they can set up the HF, they will be able to set up most others.

I've seen the HF as cheap as $30 on sale. That is also what I paid. For an all metal dovetail jig, I do not think you can get anything close.

I could buy any dovetail jig I want and I use the HF. It is not an inferior product for what it does. A little crude in the finishes but it does not hurt the function.

Jim

[eddy merckx]

Second on the Harbor Freight jig. You can download the instructions for Rockler's dovetail jig, which is set up the same. Their instructions are extremely thorough and they even have a chart which tells you the fence settings for different widths of boards and diameters of router base. They HF instructions (at least the ones I've seen) are not so useful.

I think you'd have a difficult time killing one of the HF jigs. Most of the components are steel or aluminum. It helps to clean up the edges of the fingers with a little rat tail file. It also helps to wax the top of the fingers to make the router base slide smoothly.

Grizzly sells !/4" templates and some others to fit their dovetail jig for pretty cheap. I'm not sure if they are interchangeable, but they look like they may be.

Eddy

[JimD]

I bought a Grizzly 7/16 template for my HF dovetail jig. The hole spacing is not exactly the same but is close enough that it works fine.

Jim

[BrazosJake]

I have the HF and the only thing your students will learn on it is not to go cheap. I've produced acceptable drawers with mine, after hours of test cuts and adjusting, but still never got it perfectly aligned. The template casting is so rough as to almost be unusable, you could slice a finger open on the edge.

Spend a little extra and at least go with the MLCS.