Joined
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439 Posts
I've always liked dovetailed drawers for a lot of reasons --
-- none of which included anything I was told I 'had' to do in some mag.
Totally agree with Mike that you can make good quality drawers and boxes a lot of different ways -- because I have ---
But -- I always wanted to do dovetails -- so
Finally Bought my first jig last year -
Rockler's basic 'blue' jig.
I have nothing to compare it to -- but I can say as a first time user -
once I made a point to read and follow the directions -
I had no trouble getting very 'decent' results.
I suspect any lack of quality was a result of my lack of practice more than any deficiency in the tool.
I will say this - by the time I went back and bought the optional template for through dovetails -- I could have bought the newer model jig.
I looked at the Incra system while I was shopping and the guy at Rockler made a good point. The Incra system does do a LOT of things GREAT.
But -- if all you want to do is dovetail drawers - and a lot of them
- a dedicated jig is probably quicker.
At the time that was my need -- so I went with the dovetail jig.
But I am very interested in going back sometime and getting the Incra.
Bottom line to me ---
Unfortunately -- there is no one right answer.
Figure out what all you need to do --- compare all the options -- and see what fits your needs best.
Be careful about buying anything too limited just to save money -
- you will just wind up spending more in the long run.
-- none of which included anything I was told I 'had' to do in some mag.
Totally agree with Mike that you can make good quality drawers and boxes a lot of different ways -- because I have ---
But -- I always wanted to do dovetails -- so
Finally Bought my first jig last year -
Rockler's basic 'blue' jig.
I have nothing to compare it to -- but I can say as a first time user -
once I made a point to read and follow the directions -
I had no trouble getting very 'decent' results.
I suspect any lack of quality was a result of my lack of practice more than any deficiency in the tool.
I will say this - by the time I went back and bought the optional template for through dovetails -- I could have bought the newer model jig.
I looked at the Incra system while I was shopping and the guy at Rockler made a good point. The Incra system does do a LOT of things GREAT.
But -- if all you want to do is dovetail drawers - and a lot of them
- a dedicated jig is probably quicker.
At the time that was my need -- so I went with the dovetail jig.
But I am very interested in going back sometime and getting the Incra.
Bottom line to me ---
Unfortunately -- there is no one right answer.
Figure out what all you need to do --- compare all the options -- and see what fits your needs best.
Be careful about buying anything too limited just to save money -
- you will just wind up spending more in the long run.
