Cabinet making jigs / templates. Kreg vs Milescraft vs ???

[dbhost]

I hate particle board.

My wife hates particle board.

I have 1 actually good plywood / hardwood book case, and I need to replace my nearly 40 year old MDF cabinets...

And lastly I do not trust my ability to make holes for cabinet hardware / mount up cabinet hardare properly.

I have the Kreg knob and pull alignment jig that works awesome.

I have the Milescraft Router circle jig / edge guide that works awesome.

Which leads me to a problem.

I am looking to add the following to my arsenal and I am hard pressed to know which to use...

1. Drawer Slide jig.
2. Shelf pin jig.
3. Concealed Hinge (European style hinge) jig.

The cost difference between the two is negligible at worst, I know folks tend toward Kreg, and their stuff is typicaly really good, but likewise, Every exposure I have had to Milescraft products has left me with the feeling these are premium tools in their engineering and construction.

FWIW, I have no intention to buy the face clamps as I have quite a few of the Pittsburgh locking face clamps...

[atgcpaul]

I have limited experience with Milescraft. I think I have a drill gauge but haven't used it.

I'd throw Rockler in the mix, too, but the price of their drawer jig is more than 2x over Kreg. I've always just used wood spacers for my drawer slides, but have been wanting to add a jig for it. I like Kreg jigs (have their small pocket screw jig and the Rip-Cut). They are simple, fairly robust, and affordable.

I have Rockler's JIG IT shelf pin jig from years ago. It works fine and included a Vix bit.

I never had a need for a commercial concealed hinge jig. I bought a bunch of the same Hettich hinges when I setup shop and just used my small combo square to mark where to drill. Then I setup a fence on my drill press to drill all the cups at the same time on my doors. I also made a "portable" version using some plexiglass, screws, and a fence. All my cabinets have been face frame hinges so the cabinet part was easy. If they were frameless cabinets, then I'd definitely be making or buying a jig for that part.

[dbhost]

I have a few Rockler unique items like their signmaking templates, but generally speaking once the name Rockler gets put on, the price gets doubled for no better quality. Having said that, some of the Dust Right stuff is unique...

[nicer20]

I like Kreg jigs and have some. But I am with you - I have a few of Milescraft (dowelling jig, drill guide block, depth gauge) and just like you I have come to like their quality at a reasonable price. Also recently had a minor issue with their jig and their customer service took care of it right away - no fuss.

I am looking to add more Milescraft items to my arsenal.

[twistsol]

Short Answer:

1. Drawer slide jig, unneeded
2. Shelf Pin Jig Kreg
3. Cup hinge Jig Milescraft

Long winded answer:
I would prefer the Kreg over the Milescraft shelf pin jig for one reason. The Kreg has steel sleeves for the bit to go through so you don't need to worry about holding the drill perfectly 90 degrees since the jig ensures it.

If you are using the shelf pin jig anyway, a drawer slide jig is unnecessary. The vast majority of drawer slides have the mounting holes 37mm from the front of the cabinet and subsequent holes are 37mm + 32mm x (n). This means that if you put a row of holes 37mm from the front and another row or two of holes middle and back of the cabinet, you are set up for either shelves or drawer slides. For example, Blum 24" slides have holes at 37mm, 261mm (37+ (32*7)) and 517mm (37 + (32*15)).

Euro hinges need t be mounted 37mm from the front and will fit into a pair of the 32mm holes.

For the 35mm holes on the door for the cup hinges, I use a Blum Jig relabeled by Sommerfeld in the field, but in the shop, I drill them with a 35mm bit in the router. I looked at both the Kreg and Milescraft cup hinge jigs and I really could see that one has an advantage over the other.A slight nod goes to the Milescraft for the positioning pin to set a consistent distance from the edge of the door to the hole. If the positioning holes don't line up with where you need them then you will need to make a shim to position it correctly.

For the cup hinges, you can be off by a couple of millimeters because most hinges are adjustable, but more accurate is better. The biggest issue is that you need to drill 15mm deep in a cabinet door that is typically 18-19 mm thick. Gettng the depth right is critical and both jigs support that.

A couple of notes.
If you are using face frames on the cabinets, then they need to be set up so the face frame sides are flush with the inside face of the cabinets, and you need to make sure the face frame thickness is taken into account when you set the first row of holes 37mm from the font of the cabinet. This is necessary for any cabinets with drawers and any that you plan to use the shelf holes to mount the doors.

There are hinges available that attach to the face frames, and in that case you attach the face frames however you want, but need to either shim the drawer slides to the side of the cabinet or use the brackets that attache to the back of the cabinet for the drawer slides. It also means you would then need a drawer slide jig.

[twistsol]

You could also go nuts and get the Festool system.

LR32 Kit $555,
LR32 Rail $149
OF1010 Router $499
Total $1203 + tax.

Or for half the price go with a Schmitt 32. https://schmitt32.com/collections/new-systems but you need to provide your own router and bits.

[dbhost]

Not gonna go with Festool. I haven't won the Powerball yet. You'll likely figure it out if I do as I will likely be building a nice new large building and replacing most of my tools with high end stuff like SawStop, Festool, Powermatic etc...

[dbhost]

I'm not saying it is without any trepidation, but decisions had to be made.

I went fully with Milescraft. The reasoning might not be solid, but it was as such...

#1. Drawer slide jig. I know some say unneeded, but worth it to me, the Milescraft had added features such as bubble level and non marring pads.
#2. Shelf pin jig. The Kreg has hardened steel inserts. But the Milescraft has 11 hole positions vs the Kreg only has 6. If the Kreg had more holes, I would have gone with Kreg. Hope I don't regret my decision.
#3. European hinge drilling jig. I have used several uh, lesser basically simple guides, I went with the Milescraft. No clue if it is any better or worse than the Kreg, but it comes with the proper size forstner bit.

And to top it off, also ordered some of those 5/16" ratcheting, uh, nuts? to fix various jigs in the shop. Yes I am on to the honing up my jigs section of shop setup / organization / tuning...