Dovetail jig recommendation needed

All those small dovetail jigs look alike, and work for a lot of small jobs. The problem lies in the fact that most of them have plastic templates. If you are going to do a lot of dovetails, you might want to look at a unit that has aluminum templates. An extra $100 upfront might sound like a lot, but could save you a lot of frustration later. I have personally had to replace a template because of wear/abuse.

Sears has a little bit bigger unit for $199 (Craftsman Professional 16 in. Dovetail and Boxjoint System Sears item #00925455000)

Amazon has the Keller jig for $120 for through dovetails, or the Portercable omnijig (I wish I had that one!) for $300.

Woodcraft.com has the AKEDA DC-16V Dovetail Jig, which is supposed to be really easy to use, for about $300. I haven't played with that one though.

Like most everything else, it depends on what you are going to be doing, and how often you are going to be doing it.

Check your harbor freight flyers, 'cause they have one for $30-$45 that looks a lot like everyone elses half blind jig. If you aren't going to be doing a lot of dovetails, maybe that would be an economical option.

dove tails

Have you looked into the incra postioning device? I was looking at them quite a while before buying them.
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/incr-ch1.htm

Try this site and it's home site. I ended up buying the incra pro + the fence for around 75.00 off ebay just to check it out myself. It will do dovetails thru and blind also box joints. It is mounted on three quarter ply so it can move to the drill press,table saw router table,or any place else you need exact demention. I figured on buying the new better looking ones with a lead screw but this is about as close as you can get. Set up takes a few minutes but gets pretty fast as you use it more. just offering another option.


=JCouch]I bought the Rockler jig mentioned in the first post. It works, but there is a lot of setup. You have to be really careful to get it right, and there's a lot of guess work to get the depth of the dovetail router bit at the correct depth to make a good tight fitting joint. But this is probably true of any dovetail jig. Plus, practice makes perfect, and I don't use it enough to really be good at it. Every time I need to use it, I have to relearn, so if I get bad joints, it's probably mostly my fault. But it does work. If I had it to do again, I'd probably go with the Leigh adjustable. Must be nice to be named Norm Abrams................................and have all these companies knocking down your door to give you equipment.[/QUOTE]