Brandon Shew
10-07-2007, 10:08 PM
Been quite a while simce my last post, but It's taken me a year to get past all of the new home chores and get around to wiring my shed for a real shop. So here goes...
I have a project in mind that would require some dovetails to be cut and my hand tool skills just aren't up to par, not to mention that I'd like to have it done by X-mas. SO, I have been looking around at dovetail jigs. Here's what I know that I want: ability to cut full and 1/2 blind dovetails, minimum of 16" capacity, larger would be preferred, ability for near infinite positioning/spacing. Fairly easy setup & use. I know that I am looking in pricey territory so these are my options as I see them:
1) Buy a dovetail only jig like the Leigh or Akeda. I like the flexibility of the Leigh, but the easier setup on the Akeda may win out if I go this route.
2) Buy an Incra Wonderfence, right angle jig, and shopstop and use them with my existing TS-III fence system.
Since I already have the TS-III and one of my routers is currently mounted in my TS extension table, this seems like the way to go as I will be able to use it for more than just dovetails. It would actually cost about $100 less to add that to my TS-III than I would pay for a 16" jig from either Akeda or Leigh, and it seems to meet all of my criteria as outlined above.
Any reason that I shouldn't go that route?
I have a project in mind that would require some dovetails to be cut and my hand tool skills just aren't up to par, not to mention that I'd like to have it done by X-mas. SO, I have been looking around at dovetail jigs. Here's what I know that I want: ability to cut full and 1/2 blind dovetails, minimum of 16" capacity, larger would be preferred, ability for near infinite positioning/spacing. Fairly easy setup & use. I know that I am looking in pricey territory so these are my options as I see them:
1) Buy a dovetail only jig like the Leigh or Akeda. I like the flexibility of the Leigh, but the easier setup on the Akeda may win out if I go this route.
2) Buy an Incra Wonderfence, right angle jig, and shopstop and use them with my existing TS-III fence system.
Since I already have the TS-III and one of my routers is currently mounted in my TS extension table, this seems like the way to go as I will be able to use it for more than just dovetails. It would actually cost about $100 less to add that to my TS-III than I would pay for a 16" jig from either Akeda or Leigh, and it seems to meet all of my criteria as outlined above.
Any reason that I shouldn't go that route?