Has anyone used the Festool dovetail jig?

[Bill Wyko]

A DT jig may be in my future and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with one?

[Jim Becker]

Looked at it, but it's actually pretty basic compared to a Leigh D4 which works just fine with my OF1400 and OF1010 routers. And costly for what you get. IMHO.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

FWW has an article on it as compared to the others.
They seem to like the Leigh best.

[John Stevens]

It was designed to be used with the OF1010. Not sure if the OF1400 also works with it.

Compared to the Leigh, it takes less time to learn, less time to set up, and less time to make the joint. On the other hand, you're stuck with drawer sides in fixed increments. If you use false drawer fronts, then this really doesn't matter, because you can make your false fronts a little taller than the sides and backs. Dust collection is good if you make it a point to ask for the new knobs (the old ones got in the way of the dust collector on the OF1010).

Here's a very thorough owner's manual:

http://www.festoolusa.com/Web_files/Getting_the_most_from_the_VS_600_jointing_system.p df

I bought the VS600, but returned it within the 30-day trial period because as good as it was, I still didn't like it. For comparison, I bought the Leigh DT jig from Woodcraft before I bought the VS600, and I also returned the Leigh. For me, cutting DTs with a router is just too much fussing with setup and too much dust and noise.

Regards,

John

[Lance Feagan]

I own and use a VS600 and find it particularly easy to setup and use. However, it is not as versatile as a Leigh D4R in some important ways. Minimum thickness being one of the ways. Nonetheless, for quickly running out some dovetails of generic dimensions, I find it extremely convenient. If I only had one dovetail jig, it would be a Leigh. But the VS600 makes an excellent second jig.

[Jesse Cloud]

I have used the VS600 for a couple of projects. Agree with the details of limitations above, except that it does work fine with the OF1400, just uses different copy rings than the OF1010.

It is a hugely wide jig. I use it mainly for dovetailing large carcasses. Never tried the Leigh, but I suspect the Leigh probably is more versatile, but needs more setup attention.

The main thing in Festool is the system. If you have a Festool router and vac, then the VS600 is a no brainer. Amazing how little dust is generated and how easy and accurate the router set up is. I would say I can finish with the Festool system in about 1/3 the time it used to take with the pc omnijig, just because setup and cleanup is way faster.