Rockler Dovetail Jig

[Nick Coffelt]

Does anyone own or have used the rockler dovetail jig? I'm a lower intermediate woodworker and am looking to invest in a dovetail jig. I don't need to do anything fancy, but also don't want a piece of junk (I've heard about the Porter Cable jig). I've also read the Liegh jig is great but a little more than I want to initially invest.

So any comments or feedback?

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I don't currently have a dovetail jig myself and have been looking at both the brands you've mentioned. After much research, it seems the Liegh is the one of the 2 you want. I would save up and get the Liegh once funds permit.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Where do you live sir? If you are close, you can try my Keller jig (http://www.kellerdovetail.com/). I will admit that I have barely used it, I generally cut my dovetails by hand, but, I can say that after it is setup it is pretty easy to use, although I it is not much more than a fixed system.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?155867-Is-this-Rockler-dovetail-jig-good-enough

Old posts:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?26690-Rockler-Dovetail-Jig

[Rick Potter]

If you live near me, you can try mine. If you like it, you can probably talk me out of it. My brother gave it to me, when someone left it in one of his rentals. I have never used it, never will, probably.

[Mike Henderson]

I would advise against purchasing a fixed space dovetail jig - they're just too limited. If you really want a jig, get one that has adjustable fingers, as the posters in post 2 and 3 suggest. If you don't do a lot of dovetails, maybe only one or two projects a year, I'd suggest learning how to cut them by hand. A good, adjustable dovetail jig is expensive.

Mike

[Nick Coffelt]

Well unfortunately I am not near either California or Ohio (closer), I am in Iowa. Really, I'd love to learn to cut dovetails myself and likely will do that later in life, for now, I just enjoy making furniture and would like to step up my game a little. I have some upcoming projects for our home that we are building and wanted to give them a stronger and more durable drawer. Thanks for the advice, I'll look a little harder at the Leigh jig.

[Lee Schierer]

I have an older version of the Rockler dovetail jig. It takes a bit of trial and error to get perfect fitting dovetails, but once you figure it out it make repeatable dovetails that make good strong drawers. It will only do half blind dovetails not through dovetails as the wood rests on the steel body so your bit can't cut all the way through. I found a digital height gauge very handy for adjusting my router bit to get to the sweet spot between joints that were too light or too loose. The router I use doesn't have a fine height adjustment so tweaking the fit with my router is more trouble than it would be with some other routers.

You have to make sure you get your drawer sides pulled tight to the side stops so your pieces will match up properly and adjusting the side stops requires disassembly of some of the jig.

[glenn bradley]

I also have the older version rockler jig. I used it once to make some test boxes, was not an pleased with the look of the so obviously jig-made fingers and have never used it since. Like many others if you were nearby you could have mine.

[Michelle Rich]

My pick of your 2 choices is leigh..look into what used to be called the Katie jig too..used on top of a router table..much easier to see and maneuver..will do thru doves & more

[Jim Dwight]

I use a very inexpensive jig and like it. I have a Harbor Freight jig with a Grizzly template guide. The HF template guide is cast aluminum and pretty rough. The Grizzly is aluminum and machined. The HF is 1/2 spacing (for drawers with even inch heights) and the Grizzly is 7/16 for drawers at multiples of 7/8 inch. Anyway, for basic half blind dovetails, the HF works well. You'll need better instructions (or better yet an experienced user to help) but it will make nice drawers.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The PC 4210 and 4212 are same basic jig. The 4212 can do more things. I own two of the 4212's. Bought the second one just to get set of Whiteside bits that came with it. If you go online, you can download the extended manual for free. Does a lot more than just half blind dovetails.

[scott vroom]

I've got the PC 4212 and would not buy it again. The offset guide on the left side is not accurate. Either it was a factory QA escape or the mfg tolerances are too loose. The offset guide on the right side is more accurate. I called PC tech support a few years ago and they denied any knowledge of anyone else ever complaining about this issue to which I just chuckled and hung up.

Whatever cheap jig you buy, the first thing you should check is the offset guide.

[John Lankers]

I don't build to many projects using dovetails unfortunately, what I use is the Incra LS Positioner which works for me.
If I was in the market though, I would seriously look at the Leigh RTJ 400. A pleasant experience setting up any jig for the 1st. time would be important for me and I have read (not my personal experience) that the Leigh jig fits this category.
Yes, it costs more but I have bought twice to many times and now I rather wait a little longer or close my eyes and dive right in.

[Stanley Powers]

Spend your time and money learning to do dovetails by hand. It isn't that difficult and you will have the look of "handmade dovetails"!

[Mike Henderson]

Spend your time and money learning to do dovetails by hand. It isn't that difficult and you will have the look of "handmade dovetails"!
+1 They're not that hard to do by hand. Jigs are great if you're going to do a bunch of drawers, all the same size, such as drawers in kitchen cabinets. But if you're building furniture, hand cut dovetails are much nicer.

Mike

[scott vroom]

...if you're building furniture, hand cut dovetails are much nicer.

Mike

Just curious what you find nicer about hand cut (appearance-wise)?

[Edward Oleen]

I second the motion. I've had my Keller for eons, it seems, and a week doesn't go by without my using it. I've built a stand to hold the jig with the work hanging over the edge of my bench, and a place to put the router between cuts. Since I'm about to be gifted with a pair of DeWalt '611 routers which I can dedicate to cutting DT's, I'll be modifying the stand, and making it sort of permanent on my french cleat tool wall, along with my grinder and round-over work station.

[Mike Henderson]

Just curious what you find nicer about hand cut (appearance-wise)?
With machine cut dovetails, the space between the tails has to be at least the width of the shaft of the dovetail bit. This is usually a definite tip off that the dovetails are made by machine. Additionally, machine cut dovetails, especially those made with a non-adjustable jig, are very regular in spacing, another tip off that dovetails are machine made.

To anyone experienced in hand cut dovetails, it's pretty easy to distinguish between machine made dovetails and hand cut dovetails.

Hand cut dovetails signal to the viewer that the maker has mastered a variety of woodworking skills: Precision measuring and marking of the components, accurate hand sawing, and chiseling. The hand cut dovetails can be easily laid out in a variety of patterns that are not regular. Properly fitting hand cut dovetails are a thing of beauty, not just of themselves, but for what they say about the craftsman.

Mike

[So if you're making a piece of furniture that you expect will be handed down in your family for generations, it would be nice if your descendants can see that you were a master craftsman who could make beautiful and well fitting hand cut dovetails.]

[I'll just add that most craftsmen experienced in making dovetails will lay out the dovetails in such a fashion that they COULD NOT be made by machine - just to show that they are hand made. One obvious technique is to leave very little space between the tails - in the limit, just the thickness of a saw plate. Another (which can be faked) is to leave the marks from the marking gauge that define the bottom of the tails and pins. A third thing is to change the angle of the tails, from tail to tail. It won't be a lot - just a slight deviation - but enough to communicate to another craftsman that these dovetails are hand done and could not have been done by machine. There are a few other techniques which would be hard to do by machine but easy with hand cut, mostly spacing and small pins, such as houndstooth dovetails. The dovetails in the attached pictures probably could not be done by machine.]

315557 315558

[Jim Dwight]

With machine cut dovetails, the space between the tails has to be at least the width of the shaft of the dovetail bit. This is usually a definite tip off that the dovetails are made by machine. Additionally, machine cut dovetails, especially those made with a non-adjustable jig, are very regular in spacing, another tip off that dovetails are machine made.

To anyone experienced in hand cut dovetails, it's pretty easy to distinguish between machine made dovetails and hand cut dovetails.

Hand cut dovetails signal to the viewer that the maker has mastered a variety of woodworking skills: Precision measuring and marking of the components, accurate hand sawing, and chiseling. The hand cut dovetails can be easily laid out in a variety of patterns that are not regular. Properly fitting hand cut dovetails are a thing of beauty, not just of themselves, but for what they say about the craftsman.

Mike

[So if you're making a piece of furniture that you expect will be handed down in your family for generations, it would be nice if your descendants can see that you were a master craftsman who could make beautiful and well fitting hand cut dovetails.]

Mike,

I agree with what you are saying but in my experience, it will only be the woodworkers who notice. My family members do not open a drawer and look at it's construction. Still, it's nice to know it will hold up and anybody who knows will be able to notice fine workmanship.

Jim

[Lee Schierer]

Mike,

I agree with what you are saying but in my experience, it will only be the woodworkers who notice. My family members do not open a drawer and look at it's construction. Still, it's nice to know it will hold up and anybody who knows will be able to notice fine workmanship.

Jim


Woodworkers kids also notice the construction of drawers etc. when shopping for furniture items. I know mine do.

[Thomas Wilson]

I have been using fixed template dovetail jigs for at least 40 years. I find them good for their purpose. Handcut are nice. Variable spacing jigs are nice too. I have learned to live within the regular spacing without much limitation. For the pin at top and bottom of the drawer side to be exactly 1/2 a pin, you have to make your drawer in increments of the template spacing (width of one pin and one slot on the template). My Porter Cable Omnijig that I have had for 25 years is 27/32". You can add about 1/8" to top and bottom to get a bit wider than this. You cannot go down without making the last pins too narrow.

Of course they look machine-made, but they are strong and I find pleasing enough for my taste. I can make a bunch of them in short time. I frequently find it advantageous to buy accuracy when my skill or time is lacking.

I mostly make built-in cabinets for myself and others. I make a lot of drawers but am not a professional.

TW