dovetail jig

[john connolly 1968]

hi im new to the site,and new to woodwork but have allways wanted to get into it,but theres one thing i need to no is how to make a good dovetail jig, ive seen some with pins but dont no where to start can anyone help and guide me to a good jig thanx john

[Rob Holcomb]

John, I was looking for a dovetail jig too not long ago. My criteria was....Easy to set up and use, Able to make dovetails on wide boards, not too expensive and did I mention easy to use? I ended up buying a Keller dovetail jig. After the initial setup and test cuts, I used it for real on boards that were 22" wide. The pins and tails fit together like a glove. Best woodworking investment I've made considering money spent, time to set up and ease of use. I highly recommend it!

[Van Huskey]

Well the first issue is how much are you willing to spend, second how big do you need it to handle and third what type of dovetails do you want to produce. You can spend a little to a LOT depending on the above criteria.

[John M Wilson]

Hi! I am also new to the woodworking thing, and am slowly teaching myself the basics. I recently got a dovetail jig from Rockler (at the time, it came with a free dust collection chute; don't know if that sale is still ongoing) which met my needs for something nice (didn't want cheap junk that I would regret spending $ on) but not overkill for a rookie like me. The instructions were thorough, and my first test dovetail was pretty good, and they only got better from there, once I figured out which movement affected which aspect of the joint. My other advice is to check out the many woodworking videos on the internet for help on the basics. My favorites are the New Yankee Workshop once a week videos with the king of woodworking, Norm Abram, and another site with many terrific videos and advice for newbies, NewWoodworker.com. Good Luck!

[paul cottingham]

John, I was looking for a dovetail jig too not long ago. My criteria was....Easy to set up and use, Able to make dovetails on wide boards, not too expensive and did I mention easy to use? I ended up buying a Keller dovetail jig. After the initial setup and test cuts, I used it for real on boards that were 22" wide. The pins and tails fit together like a glove. Best woodworking investment I've made considering money spent, time to set up and ease of use. I highly recommend it!

+1 Keller Jig

[roman fedyk]

No doubt about it, an Akeda is the way to go. Very simple and you can do most joints without buying extra templates.

[Van Huskey]

Still waiting for the OP to chime back in but the Keller Jigs are indeed EASY to use but limited in many ways, if you want to do standard spacing through dovetails (or do dovetails on a round top) they are quite good, outside these it becomes cumbersome or useless. But, until I know the budget and other needs there is no need for me to wax poetic about the Akeda, Leigh or Omnijig which all may be too much jig or too much money.

[Glen Butler]

It sounds like the OP wants to MAKE a dovetail jig. If this be the case: You either hand cut your dovetails using a dovetail saw and chisels, or you buy a dovetail jig. I have seen some old videos on hand cutting dovetails and there are some on this thread who do an excellent job of it. I am not that person.

I use the PC 16" omnijig, and though I like the end result and the miriad of options, the thing is a bear to set up for the first time. The so-called factory set stops are not even close.

[Jeremy Killingbeck]

I ended up making my dovetail jig. I do not do a lot of dovetails, so I did not want to spend much money on a jig. I think that my total investment for the jig is about $7 for hardware. I got all the wood as free scraps from a local lumber yard. Below is the link that you can get the plans for the jig that I built. It is a little limited in what it can do, but for the cost you can not go wrong.

http://plansnow.com/dovejig.html

[Randal Stevenson]

One of the early Shopnotes magazines had an article on how to build your own. Also one of the Australian woodworking magazine had one (gave up looking, wanted to see a picture of a completed one).

One other option you might look for, is Stots. I have read about it here and elsewhere.

[Jerry Olexa]

For simplicity and speed, the Keller jig IMHO...

[john connolly 1968]

thanx guys,im a keen watcher of the new yankee workshop and considering i was watching his new series last night it didnt dawn on me to look up norm so a big thankyou for giving my head a wobble on that note,and will certainly look up the kellar,as for size,realy it was for just general bits and bobs as im learning my self,i seem to go in to the garage with long peices of wood and come out with scraps as im just chopping here and there the noises what come from the garage,i think the neibours think im a master craftsman ,if only they could see my scrap bin as thats what i seem to be filling at the mo but il get there

[Van Huskey]

Dovetail jigs are one of those things like cars, there is a good bit of difference some are inexpensive some are not but they all perform the same functions on a very basic level. You can easily spend $1000 on a high end jig, bits and accessories but you can also get out under a hundred bucks. My suggestion based on what you have said is to get an inexpensive jig and use it to learn and decide what you want in a jig so when it is time to move up to something lke a Akeda, Leigh or PC Omni then you have a good idea what you want and not just choose based on others opinions which are based on what they build and how they work. Try looking at the Woodcraft Wood River jig, it is their "house" brand and with it a bit and a bushing you can get out for around $80 this will give you a place to start and develop knowledge and skills so you male the correct choice later on and don't end up $500+ into a Leigh and decide you want an Akeda etc.

[Igor Petrenko]

just get harbor freight jig. it's like $30, cheap made and wiggly but after you configure it for specific stock thickness cuts are very clean and repeatable.

[Kevin Lucas]

If you want to try them by hand here is a neat jig by Charles Neil
http://charlesneilwoodworking.com/

http://charlesneilwoodworking.com/category_player.php?type=1&cat=2&video=smarttails.flv

and the pdf file

http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/smart-tails.pdf (http://www.antiquesbuiltdaily.com/smart-tails.pdf)

way cheaper than a retail jig and they work nice )

[Louie Ballis]

Anyone here have experiacne with the Woodline dovetail system? (it s called the "spacer fence system")

[Alex Berkovsky]

One of the early Shopnotes magazines had an article on how to build your own.Yep, that would be issue No. 43.