Dovetail Jigs - Which one??

[kfitzsimons]

I have a Keller 1601 jig with bits (plus the box joint bit) for sale. I've used it once. $200 + shippiing. I can send photos.

 

[krudawg]

I bought a Leigh D4 Pro jig with all the accessories.  I've used it twice and found it to be on the "fussy" side, so it sits on a shelf in my shop.  Some day, I will decide to force myself to make all my drawers with dovetails with the Jig but I'm really not in a hurry to do that yet

 

[Mini Me]

A Bandsaw is another option which works very well but Frank Klausz's method is also great and all done with zero measuring.

Watch the two top videos at this linkhttps://www.google.com/search?q=frank+klause+dovetails&oq=frank+klause+dovetails&aqs=edge..69i57j0i13i512.18545j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&bshm=rimc/1

 

[DynaGlide]

Jordan, to be blunt, ALL dovetail jigs produce dovetails that look terrible. Bland, mechanical and really, really scream out “made by machine”. Yet dovetails are prized joinery .., because they are associated with handwork and craftsmanship. So learn to make them by hand. Cheaper too.


Regards from Perth

Derek

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] Derek I disagree here. What is cheaper about all the niche hand tools I've bought from Lie Nielsen and Veritas and my new obsession with nice hand tools.

It all started with a simple Veritas LAJ. Then I had to build a bench (obviously). And I blacked out afterwards and here we are. Cheaper my ass.

Matt

 

[Mini Me]

Jordan, to be blunt, ALL dovetail jigs produce dovetails that look terrible. Bland, mechanical and really, really scream out “made by machine”. Yet dovetails are prized joinery .., because they are associated with handwork and craftsmanship. So learn to make them by hand. Cheaper too.


Regards from Perth

Derek

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] Derek I disagree here. What is cheaper about all the niche hand tools I've bought from Lie Nielsen and Veritas and my new obsession with nice hand tools.

It all started with a simple Veritas LAJ. Then I had to build a bench (obviously). And I blacked out afterwards and here we are. Cheaper my ass.

Matt

Why do you need all those tools to do a dovetail? A single saw and a chisel is all that is needed add a pencil which is optional and cut a DT. 

 

[Sparktrician]

What is cheaper about all the niche hand tools I've bought from Lie Nielsen and Veritas and my new obsession with nice hand tools.

It all started with a simple Veritas LAJ. Then I had to build a bench (obviously). And I blacked out afterwards and here we are. Cheaper my ass.

Matt

"My name is Matt, and I'm a tool-a-holic." 

"Welcome, Matt!" 

BA-HAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
Why do you need all those tools to do a dovetail? A single saw and a chisel is all that is needed add a pencil which is optional and cut a DT.

Perhaps for the similar reason why some Festool owners have spent so much on a track saw, dust extractor, MFT table and after-market accessories while all my old neighbor Don had was a circular saw and a shop-made fence to do everything he wanted with sheet goods.

 

[squall_line]

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] Derek I disagree here. What is cheaper about all the niche hand tools I've bought from Lie Nielsen and Veritas and my new obsession with nice hand tools.

It all started with a simple Veritas LAJ. Then I had to build a bench (obviously). And I blacked out afterwards and here we are. Cheaper my ass.

Matt

Why do you need all those tools to do a dovetail? A single saw and a chisel is all that is needed add a pencil which is optional and cut a DT.

I think Matt was being a little tongue-in-cheek here.

 

[Cheese]

This really is a FWIW answer...I used a Porter Cable 4210 to cut these. I just needed some simple storage boxes that are never seen...because they're always in storage.  [smile]  They get pulled out maybe 2-3 times a year.

[attachimg=1]

Even though these are never seen, I wanted something a bit more elegant than the Domino storage boxes I usually make.

[attachimg=2]

 

[cpw]

I have the Porter Cable jig.  It works well, but just be prepared to go through a bunch of scrap stock to get it dialed in right.  Once you do, you can make drawers non-stop.  Make sure you dedicate a router to the jig, so that you don't need to make any adjustments after dialing it in.

 

[PaulMarcel]

I have the Leigh (or is it Lee now?) D4R. It sits unused as I usually always cut them by hand (not that I'm good at that, but I do).

However, I bought a Y-peeler and finally got fed up with my "builder cabinets" because it wouldn't fit in the comically awkwardly sized drawer. Gutted the boxes, installed new rail/stiles (the island had 6" wide stiles like why...), installed full-extension slides wherever there was a drawer or I wanted a sliding tray drawer.

...but I'm not gonna hand-cut 38 drawers/trays for my kitchen.

So I've been tinkering with the D4R to re-learn it. Works well. It's a shame it's awkward to use multiple routers due to concentricity issues with the guide bushings (with a single router, the concentricity issue cancels out).  So I couldn't use the OF-2200 has a second routers due to its LAUGHABLE guide-bushing insert. The MFK-700 has a screw-in base, but is visibly not concentric. The OF-1400's mount with Leigh/Lee's bushing is dead perfect. (Not sure why 'dead' and 'perfect' became an adage together, but here we are)

There's a thread on FOG about (the OF-2200 guide-bushing base and the Leigh/Lee jig). I like his solution fixing a router adapter to the insert. Sadly, buying JUST the adapter seems impossible without yet-another set of bushings making it $30 if you want the brass one. But it fixes a billion-dollar router's shortcomings so  [scratch chin]

Moral? don't use a Y-peeler

 

[krudawg]

Hey Paul, haven't seen you around in a while.  With regard to the OF 1400 router, is the Leigh supplied e7 bushing going to give me good results with the D4 Pro jig.  We all paid a lot of money for the jig and mine mostly sits on a shelf in my shop.  I'd really like to start using it again but I want to make sure I'm using the best router/bushing combination.  The New Brit Workshop recommends using the OF 1010 on the D4 Pro because that is where he gets the best results.

 

[rst]

I bought a pair of PC 690 routers before I discovered Festool.  One of them is dedicated to my Leigh jig

 

[jeffinsgf]

Paul,

Not to discourage you from figuring out the Leigh, but have you considered just getting a traditional, old-fashioned half-blind dovetail jig to knock out your kitchen project? They're just as strong as anything you can do with a Leigh and they're dead simple to set up and execute. Yes, they're predictable looking and factory looking. Close the drawer and you won't know.

You can generally find used Porter-Cable Omni-Jigs on Facebook and CraigsList for short money. I found a 24" German-made Elu on FBM last year for $35.

 

[PaulMarcel]

Oh, the Leigh isn't super difficult to figure out. I just want to know what all the settings are on it, which I did awhile ago. Then comes tinkering. I had hoped to use two routers to keep from switching bits, but as they say, unless the bushing is exactly concentric, you'll get errors. The 700 was obviously way off concentric. The 1400 looked pretty much perfect. The 2200 has a base for the bushings, but they move in use and aren't concentric: I'm convinced that base was included in the kit as a marketing bullet point as it is literally non-functional.

And these will look like mass-produced dovetail drawers assuming they were built with Beech. Not concerned about that.

Times like this, I wish Lee Valley produced hand-cut dovetail tape... whoa, can't find a link to it anymore. It was an April Fools' product of theirs: just apply the tape for the look of dovetails

 

[Mini Me]

Yes, they're predictable looking and factory looking. Close the drawer and you won't know.

Hand cut DT's carefully measured and laid out are also predictable and boring where in days gone by nothing was measured and it was all done by eye which is what Frank Klausz does. I know Derek and others disagree with that approach but it is traditional to do it that way because the DT was used solely for its mechanical properties and not to look pretty.

 

[derekcohen]

Jordan, to be blunt, ALL dovetail jigs produce dovetails that look terrible. Bland, mechanical and really, really scream out “made by machine”. Yet dovetails are prized joinery .., because they are associated with handwork and craftsmanship. So learn to make them by hand. Cheaper too.


Regards from Perth

Derek

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] Derek I disagree here. What is cheaper about all the niche hand tools I've bought from Lie Nielsen and Veritas and my new obsession with nice hand tools.

It all started with a simple Veritas LAJ. Then I had to build a bench (obviously). And I blacked out afterwards and here we are. Cheaper my ass.

Matt

Matt, the dovetails on your bench look very nice. However, they are dovetails on the bench, and this is different (= wider) from dovetails on a drawer (= narrower). Here are the dovetails on my bench ... cut by hand ...

At the end of the day, it is what turns you on. Only another woodworker can tell the difference. No one else cares.  [wink]

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[peter halle]

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member] , absolutely STUNNING workbench!

Peter

 

[Cheese]

At the end of the day, it is what turns you on. Only another woodworker can tell the difference. No one else cares.  [wink]

Regards from Perth

Derek

Now that's a thing of beauty... [big grin]...is there any back draft on the dovetails or is everything straight?

[attachimg=1]

 

[derekcohen]

Cheese, I do not know what you mean by "backdraft". If you mean any complications, then the answer is "no". All has been tight and solid since I built this bench 11 years ago. I do a great deal of hand tool work, and it gets a constant work out.

Regards from Perth

Derek