Advantages of Akeda jig over less expensive, like Rockler

[Erik Frederiksen]

I want to buy an Akeda jig, but then someone posted a link to a Rockler jig on sale for 119, regularly 149. A little less painful outlay than the Akeda.

I like the Akeda's flexibility in adjusting size, angle and location of pins and tails for the handcut look. I've read the web site for the Rockler jig, but can't figure out if the Rockler jig has this capability as well.

Are there any other things I would miss if I got the cheaper rig?

I remodel for a living, but would use the dovetail jig mostly for home projects like an upcoming dresser for my step-daughter. I appreciate good tools, would the Rockler disappoint?

[Jim Riseborough]

I have the Akeda jig, and it doenst dissapoint. Was able to pick up extra bits too when woodcrafters clearanced all theirs.

[Lee Schierer]

The Rockler dovetail jig I have is not adjustable for spacing of pins and tails. They did offer another template after I bought mine that had a different spacing, but I didn't get one.

The jig does a good job and is pretty easy to use. I use a digital caliper to get the depth of slot settings exactly the same as the graduation marks are not very clear. One thing I don't like about the Rockler jig is that to adjust the side stops so the dovetails are centered on your stock you have to disassemble the clamp plates to get to the screws that lock the stops in place. This is a bit of a pain if you have multiple drawer side heights. One of these days I may see if I can come up with a better solution for easier adjustment.

It is much better than the old Craftsman jig I had for years.

[Chris Kennedy]

I have the older Rockler jig, and it is the only one that I have ever owned. It is a little hard to configure and I don't think the joints are as tight as some other jigs make, but it is fine for every now and then work.

Cheers,

Chris

[glenn bradley]

I have an older Rockler and it does the job. It is not adjustable without swapping the fised templates so your side heights are controlled by the spacing provided. That being said, I have not had the need to buy a better one although they are attractive, just more money than I am willing to spend to make dovetails. Don't get me wrong, the nicer jigs are great. I just don't make that many dovetails.

[Curt Taylor]

Hi Erik,
Having not used the Rockler jig I can't speak for it but I do own the 24" Akeda and can vouch for that. A very well made jig and very versatile. The dust collection works well enough, considering I'm only using a shop vac on it. I can't say enough about product support either. I ordered the 24" jig and the C-kit. Jig was shipped from Illinois and came in 1st and the c-kit was shipped from Canada. I was suprised to find that one of the guides shipped with the jig was cracked in half and noted it when I sent in the warranty. No damage to packing so it had to have been packed that way. About a week later, on a saturday night I got a call from Kevan at Akeda. Long story short, after 45 minutes of very helpful information on the phone concerning the jigs operation and various questions I had, Kevan said they would be sending out a replacement guide. I recieved the guide and a second 1/2" to 8mm for my trouble and a personal note from Kevan. Can]t say enough about the jig and the company. It's pricy, but you get what you pay for. Hope this helps.

[Zach England]

Hi Erik,
Having not used the Rockler jig I can't speak for it but I do own the 24" Akeda and can vouch for that. A very well made jig and very versatile. The dust collection works well enough, considering I'm only using a shop vac on it. I can't say enough about product support either. I ordered the 24" jig and the C-kit. Jig was shipped from Illinois and came in 1st and the c-kit was shipped from Canada. I was suprised to find that one of the guides shipped with the jig was cracked in half and noted it when I sent in the warranty. No damage to packing so it had to have been packed that way. About a week later, on a saturday night I got a call from Kevan at Akeda. Long story short, after 45 minutes of very helpful information on the phone concerning the jigs operation and various questions I had, Kevan said they would be sending out a replacement guide. I recieved the guide and a second 1/2" to 8mm for my trouble and a personal note from Kevan. Can]t say enough about the jig and the company. It's pricy, but you get what you pay for. Hope this helps.

I second this on service. I bought the jig a couple of weeks ago and only had one of the collet reducers. I didn't know another was supposed to be included so I just bought one, but yesterday I had an envelope in my mail box with a hand written note apologizing for shipping it with only one reducer.

I was underwhelmed by the jig at first--perhaps because I had read so much hype about it, but last night I pulled it out after having not used it for a couple of weeks and I was able to cut perfect dovetails without looking at the manual or even really thinking about it.

[Joe Scharle]

I've got a couple of jigs from a $19.95 HF to a Woodrat, including a Leigh Super. The HF is the same kind of HB DT jig as the Rockler used to be, but I've read the Rockler now has a thru DT ability. The HF is my grab & go for kitchen/vanity drawers, but the Leigh & Woodrat are for fine drawers. I'm a builder and can safely say that 99% of my buyers can recognize DTs, but not the difference between variable & machine spacing. As for stops, I don't even use them; just eyeball the offset with the boards in the center and cut. And all fixed comb jigs will force you to use specific drawer heights to allow half pins on the edges. Most are in 1/4" increments I've found. Can't comment on Akeda or Keller, but I've never read any complaints.

I used to hand cut DTs but when my eyesight started going I started messing them up, so I went with the jigs. However, I can't ever remember hand cutting kitchen/vanity DTs.

[Lee Schierer]

I have the older Rockler jig, and it is the only one that I have ever owned. It is a little hard to configure and I don't think the joints are as tight as some other jigs make, but it is fine for every now and then work.

Cheers,

Chris

Joint tightness is a function of router bit height. You can make the joints tighter or looser by raising or lowering the router bit in your router set up. You can go from sloppy to won't go together with a hammer. The directions for the jig point this out but are a bit hard to follow.

[Erik Frederiksen]

Thanks for your replies all, looks like Akeda is the one for me.

[Wayne Cannon]

Compared with the Rockler, the Akeda jig:


provides better support for the router base in front and behind the work,
is fully-enclosed (shrouded) for excellent dust-collection with their add-on kit, and
does variable spacing dovetails (on 1/8" grid).

[Joe Leigh]

Compared with the Rockler, the Akeda jig:


provides better support for the router base in front and behind the work,
is fully-enclosed (shrouded) for excellent dust-collection with their add-on kit, and
does variable spacing dovetails (on 1/8" grid).


The Leigh Superjigs do all of the above without the restriction of the 1/8" grid. And cost a lot less than the Akeda.

[Al Navas]

And the Leigh Customer Support is second to NONE.

.

[Jim Eller]

Count me in on the Akeda bandwagon for product and service.

To get a feel for it, call Kevan.

My favorite thing for the Akeda is excellent fit with hardly any learning curve. That means I can put it away for any length of time and be cutting perfect dovetails in no time at all.

The "1/8 grid restriction" means absolutely nothing to me for any thing I've done. The exact duplication feature does however.

[Greg Wittler]

I didn't even know about the Akeda until I read this comparison to the Leigh

http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/LeighVersusAkeda/LeighVersusAkeda.html

not sure how old it is, but it could help.

[Wayne Watling]

I didn't even know about the Akeda until I read this comparison to the Leigh
http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/LeighVersusAkeda/LeighVersusAkeda.html (http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/LeighVersusAkeda/LeighVersusAkeda.html)
not sure how old it is, but it could help.

Thats a good comparison but there have been a few updates since then. I've got the 24" Akeda and its great, was able to cut variable spaced half blinds within a few hours. The Akeda customer service is nothing short of outstanding, and just knowing that if things go wrong you can get the owner on the line that is worth the Akeda's weight in gold. I noticed that one of the bits was chipped when I removed the protective coating so I shot off an email, he replied promptly saying another bit is in the mail.

Here are a few additional comments on that comparison in the above link:

Guiding:
They describe the fingers as 'plastic', but that plastic is actually carbon fiber and extremely hard. Since the router doesn't ride on the fingers there would be very little wear and if by chance you did slip and push the bit into the fingers you wont destroy the bit. There are plenty of fingers and they are cheap to get replacements if ever required.

Template
They state that you should constrain the stock width to multiples of 1/8". Akeda now has an index strip adjuster (http://akeda.com/jig.new-products.html) accessory which allows easy centering of the stock between the two outer guide fingers.

Capability
The Akeda now comes in a 24" version

I'd suggest getting the "C" kit and that way you have everything you'll need including the dust collection accessory. You may also want to get the index strip adjuster.

I can't comment on the Leigh because I've never used it but I have some of their new hold down clamps and the quality of the product is also A1.

Regards,
Wayne

[Joe Leigh]

Summary
There are a few areas where one system has a clear technical advantage:

Advantage Akeda:

Dust collection.
Router support, no feeling of tip near the edge.
"Digital" repeatability

Advantage Leigh:

True variable layout in both position and pin width.
Adjustment for fit is finer and much easier to control.
Documentation, a manual of exceptional quality.
Capacity, an additional 8 inches more in width and 1/2" in thickness.
Cutters, widely available and more to select from.
Additional joint profiles, (important only if you plan on using other types of joints).

Two of the three Akeda "advantages" have already been overcome by Leigh. With the addition of their VRS, vacuum router support, the dust collection is great as well as the stability of the router and the ability to "park" the router after completion of the cut.

You really can't go wrong with either jig.

[Stephen Edwards]

I didn't even know about the Akeda until I read this comparison to the Leigh

http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/LeighVersusAkeda/LeighVersusAkeda.html

not sure how old it is, but it could help.

Greg, Thanks for that link. There's a lot of good information on that site.

[Wayne Watling]

Just adding to that summary:


Summary
There are a few areas where one system has a clear technical advantage:



Advantage Akeda:

Router support, no feeling of tip near the edge.

The Akeda jig provides the ultimate support for a router especially if combined with a Pat Warner style router base. The router can be placed anywhere on the unit without the fear of tipping. Not that it needs it but I added a fine smear of paste wax to the router base and that thing was gliding across the dead flat metal surface like it was on a cushion of air. Having come from a system where the router sit on the fingers, this make a HUGE difference in ease of use and hence the final accuracy of a cut. I could have pushed the router around with my little finger it was that smooth.




Summary

True variable layout in both position and pin width.


Unless you are doing reproduction work where the D/T's need to be perfectly matched then the limit of 1/8" is fine for most folks especially if you consider the accuracy and repeatability you gain from that.


Summary


Advantage Leigh:

Adjustment for fit is finer and much easier to control.


I haven't had to adjust anything on the Akeda it just worked straight out of the box.


Summary


Documentation, a manual of exceptional quality.


The Akedas manual is one of the best I've read with easy to understand drawings and backup notes. What I like about the Akeda jig is that its so intuitive that for the most part after a quick browse you don't need the manual.


Summary


Capacity, an additional 8 inches more in width and 1/2" in thickness.


The Akeda comes in a 24" model, where does the additional 8" come from? The Akeda will cut stock of a maximum of 1" which is a 1/2" difference, the only exception to that is for the through DT pin piece which is limited to 3/4", I believe there is 6 deg finger guide coming out to take care of this, that will make it a full 1" if you ever do need it and 1/4" difference.


Summary

You really can't go wrong with either jig.


Agreed.

Merry Christmas,
Wayne

[Wayne Watling]

The Leigh Superjigs do all of the above without the restriction of the 1/8" grid. And cost a lot less than the Akeda.

Even if you want to compare the Superjig with the Akeda the price difference is not a lot.

Superjig with the AC24 accessory kit is approx USD$648

Akeda with the "C" kit/index strip adjuster is USD$670 when purchased as a single order.

Regards,
Wayne

PS. For Canadians the Akeda jig works out even cheaper than the above price because of a special pricing formula they have to account for the difference in the US$ and shipping is included in the above price. I'm not certain whether shipping is included for the US buyers.