Dovetail jig question.

[Kent E. Matthew]

How many of you make do with a 12 inch jig?

[Rick Fisher]

12" will do most drawers..

I have a 16" .. but 12" would suffice .

[Tom Hintz]

I have always had 24" jigs but use less than 12" of it probably 95% of the time. Over the years I have made wider things, lower drawers on cabinets and such and a couple blanket chest-type projects that needed wider pieces but they are few and far between. I suspect that lots of us seldom need more width capability.
But, when you need more width there is no alternative other than using a completely different joint. That occasional need makes it worth having the 24" dovetail jig for me.

[Van Huskey]

A 12" would work for me 90% of the time, but I ended up with a 24" since the bigger ones seem to be where the companies put all their really interesting features.

[Will Overton]

I have a 24" PC. I bought it because it looked really impressive.:cool:
It works very well, but if buying today I would go for a 12" or maybe a 16".

[Zach England]

I have the 24 inch akeda and like it because when doing work shorter than 12 inches I can set up pins at one end and tails at the other.

[Erik Christensen]

I have the leigh D4R - got it because I wanted the additional isolock templates. It only comes in the 24" size and I have some shop drawers that are > 12" so it has worked for me.

[Don Dorn]

I have the Porter Cable 4112 and use it primarily for sliding dovetails, but it works fine. I belive I've only made one drawer that was close to 12". In this jig, you can remove the template and mount it to a board and use it like a Keller Jig if you wanted through dovetails wider than 12", but I haven't done it. On the two occasions that I did case work and still wanted dovetails, I just invested the extra time to do them by hand. I have no regrets with a 12" jig.