Adrian Anguiano
09-12-2015, 6:57 PM
Bought the Jessem doweling jig (The newer model) with the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" inserts. I do restoration work on pinball cabinets and there is always a torn off edge that needs repaired. As in this case, the head of the machine was ripped off, so I routered a nice straight line into the cab, used the jig, and replaced that piece perfectly flush. After a few more patches, like that round dowel i had to lathe and plug, some putty, and a complete repaint job, it turns back into a perfectly new machine.
321291321294
Now onto my issues.
First issue off the bat. That job above was 1/2" thick piece of wood, so i used 1/4" dowels. But oops, the jig wont let me even though there is a mark for 1/4" As you can see in circle red, the alignment tab on the jig was cnc'd too long. Customer service was quick and nice and expressed a new part to me. Weirdly they said they hadnt caught this before... WEIRD. So they sent me another one of those pieces where you can see fresh aluminum has been shaved off. No annodizing :( so i guess they werent kidding about not having any in stock that werent like that. Quality control errk. Shocked since Jessem produced such nice products.
321287321289
So now that i can put it on the 1/4" mark, I put it on the mark and tightened down. Hmm.. I notice a gap. When i looked closer its being caused by the male alignment plugs are not fully seating into the female holes. either the plugs are too big or the hole is too shallow. This causes the alignment top to teeter totter just slightly on those plugs. When i drilled my first hole I noticed the jig flexed, and it was caused by this. Called customer service back, and had to wait a week this time for a response cause it was sent to the engineer. They finally came back and said that was how it was designed. Hmm... I emailed back and said that was strange cause it flexed.. but got no response. All well.
321288
Last issue I had in using the jig for my purposes, which granted is not the conventional usage of this jig, was that this newer version of the doweling jig has a curved inside plate where the clamp goes to secure the wood. As you can tell in the picture, the only clamp i could get to work was a tiny C Clamp. I really needed the clamp in the very corner, but since its curved, you can only clamp on the flat spot. Im guessing this was done to make the aluminum stronger, but now makes it very difficult to clamp the wood for my uses. Strangely enough the old jig doesnt have that curve issue. Or the alignment tab issue if i remember right.
321290
So while my first use of it was mostly a success it wasnt without some issues, and also the joint was very difficult to close with the dowels after glue. I had to use many clamps and wrench down those clamps which blew out one section of the wood to close the joints. Was it because of the teeter tottering jig? Maybe. was it cause the drill bit they sent was .002 smaller than 1/4" Maybe. Did my dowel that was measured .25 expand too quick when glue touched it.. maybe.
Unfortunately after a 200$ purchase, Im not fully satisfied. Mostly happy with Customer Service. Would still recommend their products to people as they make great stuff, this one just has some issues and was shocked by the simple Quality Control issues that should have been tested and noticed before apparently many many went out the door.
321291321294
Now onto my issues.
First issue off the bat. That job above was 1/2" thick piece of wood, so i used 1/4" dowels. But oops, the jig wont let me even though there is a mark for 1/4" As you can see in circle red, the alignment tab on the jig was cnc'd too long. Customer service was quick and nice and expressed a new part to me. Weirdly they said they hadnt caught this before... WEIRD. So they sent me another one of those pieces where you can see fresh aluminum has been shaved off. No annodizing :( so i guess they werent kidding about not having any in stock that werent like that. Quality control errk. Shocked since Jessem produced such nice products.
321287321289
So now that i can put it on the 1/4" mark, I put it on the mark and tightened down. Hmm.. I notice a gap. When i looked closer its being caused by the male alignment plugs are not fully seating into the female holes. either the plugs are too big or the hole is too shallow. This causes the alignment top to teeter totter just slightly on those plugs. When i drilled my first hole I noticed the jig flexed, and it was caused by this. Called customer service back, and had to wait a week this time for a response cause it was sent to the engineer. They finally came back and said that was how it was designed. Hmm... I emailed back and said that was strange cause it flexed.. but got no response. All well.
321288
Last issue I had in using the jig for my purposes, which granted is not the conventional usage of this jig, was that this newer version of the doweling jig has a curved inside plate where the clamp goes to secure the wood. As you can tell in the picture, the only clamp i could get to work was a tiny C Clamp. I really needed the clamp in the very corner, but since its curved, you can only clamp on the flat spot. Im guessing this was done to make the aluminum stronger, but now makes it very difficult to clamp the wood for my uses. Strangely enough the old jig doesnt have that curve issue. Or the alignment tab issue if i remember right.
321290
So while my first use of it was mostly a success it wasnt without some issues, and also the joint was very difficult to close with the dowels after glue. I had to use many clamps and wrench down those clamps which blew out one section of the wood to close the joints. Was it because of the teeter tottering jig? Maybe. was it cause the drill bit they sent was .002 smaller than 1/4" Maybe. Did my dowel that was measured .25 expand too quick when glue touched it.. maybe.
Unfortunately after a 200$ purchase, Im not fully satisfied. Mostly happy with Customer Service. Would still recommend their products to people as they make great stuff, this one just has some issues and was shocked by the simple Quality Control issues that should have been tested and noticed before apparently many many went out the door.