Hello all: My name is Gerry and I am fairly new to wood working. I have a small area in the corner of the garage to do my puttering in. I have a few basic wood working tools; table saw. bandsaw. jointer, planer, lathe, router and drill press. I get along with all the machines but I do have a router question. I am looking for a dovetail jig for small projects and don't know the pros and cons of guide bushings vs guide bearings. I'm undecided between the PC 4216 or the Keller style. I am leaning toward the PC for its small box capability but the Keller jig on the router table is interesting but lacks the small size dovetails.
Any input would be appreciated.
Gerry
I have both the PC (one mentioned) & Keller jigs - the PC is certainly an excellent value and works well in creating a variety of joints; there is also a long grove on the template for doing dados, rabbets, and likely other jobs that I've not discovered yet.
Gerry,
I have the Keller jig which I use on the router table or handheld. I bought it 23 years ago and was one of my better investments back then. Last year I did buy new bits from Keller so the jig is still supported. IMHO I would go with bearings instead of guide bushings. Not that guide bushings are bad but I have used a Rockler jig which uses guide bushings and you have to have the router base perfectly centered to the chuck with a centering bit (not included with bushing sets) or your bit will not be centered inside the bushing and your cuts will be off to one side, also some lower quality bushings are not perfectly machined and are out of tolerance.
A major decision to make when choosing a dovetail jig is between one with a fixed finger template and one with a variable (or adjustable) finger template. You have to make this decision at the outset, as you can’t buy a fixed template jig to start and then just upgrade to a variable one later.
If you want to make small boxes (domono boxes, jewerly, etc.) make sure you can make the small through and blind dovetails. I have the PC 4216 and I love it.
Thanks for all the input. Its much appreciated.
I went with the PC 4216
Thanks again
Ger
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