STOTS Corporation Templatemaster

[Randy Gillard]

Anyone used this dovetail jig? Any good?

Comments would be appreciated.

[frank shic]

randy, the stots dovetail template works great. it does take a little bit more effort than some of the other jigs because you have to cut a duplicate template from the master, glue up three pieces of 3/4 plywood or melamine or hardwood to make up the spine. check out phil bumbalough's site for more details on maximizing its utility:

http://benchmark.20m.com/reviews/StotsTemplate/StotsTemplateReview.html

basically, you're building a keller dovetail jig out of the template master. you don't need to build the clamps into the jig if you're strapped on time but you MUST use screw type clamps NOT the quickgrips because they will not hold the pieces tightly enough. if you have two routers, make an offset stop so that you can rout the pins and tails at the same time. don't forget that you need to ROTATE the pieces to maintain the correct orientation of the pins and tails.

i built 14 dovetailed drawers out of poplar using just this jig for a recent kitchen renovation. it worked great although you have to adjust the drawer heights so that they'll fall on a half pin. you can also chop out some of the intermediate pins if you're doing a wide drawer (>4") to give it more of a handcut look.

good luck. it's the CHEAPEST way to go while not sacrificing on quality. BTW don't order the router bits from the STOTS web site - the ones i received in the mail were slightly rusty and i got ZERO response after emailing two or three times.

[Randy Gillard]

Thanks Frank