Woodcraft's WoodRiver 12" Dovetail Jig

[Dennis Collins]

Does anyone have experience with the Woodcraft WoodRiver 12" Dovetail Jig? I am looking for something to make halfblind dovetails for drawers only and this seems to be a good price ($59) if it works well. I had an old Craftsman plastic jig that worked great. It just wore out. THe WoodRiver unit seems to be similar in design but metal. The great thing about this jig is that you cut both boards at the same time for a precise fit.

Any other economical alternatives?

Thanks.

[Dennis Collins]

No comments out of this group?

[glenn bradley]

Boy, not getting much help here are you Dennis. In the economical jig arena I have the Rockler. For the amount of machined DT's I do it works fine. From your past experience with your C-man jig I would say that the Woodriver may be fine but I have never used it, only seen it at the store.

The Rockler has the lever and cam mechanism to lock your material in. The Woodcraft requires the juggling act of tightening one side and then the other side of the clamps. Whether that feature and the inclusion of a through DT template and the currently offered 'free' dust collector thingy is worth twice the price to you will be a personal decision: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17367&filter=dovetail%20jig

I'm guessing the lack of responses may be due to most folks who do a lot of machined DT's tending to go with the big-dollar jigs.

[Kelly Leblond]

While waiting to checkout at Woodcrafters Friday I heard one of staff tell a customer over the phone it had been recalled for missing parts.

[Wes Bischel]

Dennis,
If you are considering the Woodcraft version, you might as well look at the Harbor Freight version for $30. (ITEM 34102) I picked one up a while back and have had good success with it for basic functional dovetails. The picture on their site shows a plastic template, but mine came with aluminum (the aluminum doesn't flex as some of the plastic ones will). And as Glenn mentioned the cam locks are much more appropriate to the task. The Rockler unit has one piece guides which make set-up easier. (which they sell and can be retrofit to the HF unit)

Woodstock International sells the same unit (as do Rockler and Grizzly), and their instructions are much better: http://www.woodstockint.com/images/manuals/D2796_m.pdf I believe the Woodstock templates will also fit the HF unit.

Not fine WW results mind you, but for a series of drawers for toy storage etc. it works well. (i.e. not as adjustable as the high dollar units, and not as elegant as hand cut.)

Just FYI,
Wes

Oh, and MLCS has dovetail bits that work with the HF unit - bits don't come with it if I recall.

[William Bonfiglio]

Dennis,
If you are considering the Woodcraft version, you might as well look at the Harbor Freight version for $30. (ITEM 34102) I picked one up a while back and have had good success with it for basic functional dovetails. The picture on their site shows a plastic template, but mine came with aluminum (the aluminum doesn't flex as some of the plastic ones will). And as Glenn mentioned the cam locks are much more appropriate to the task. The Rockler unit has one piece guides which make set-up easier. (which they sell and can be retrofit to the HF unit)

Woodstock International sells the same unit (as do Rockler and Grizzly), and their instructions are much better: http://www.woodstockint.com/images/manuals/D2796_m.pdf I believe the Woodstock templates will also fit the HF unit.

Not fine WW results mind you, but for a series of drawers for toy storage etc. it works well. (i.e. not as adjustable as the high dollar units, and not as elegant as hand cut.)

Just FYI,
Wes

Oh, and MLCS has dovetail bits that work with the HF unit - bits don't come with it if I recall.

I have purchased and tried the Harbor Freight model (ITEM 34102) and the instruction booklet was useless. I ended using the Woodstock manual for the D2796 and was quite pleased with the results. The only thing is the unit does not have another template available for through dovetails, on the half blind 12 inch template. Harbor Freight is not know to keep enough spare parts on hand, so if any part of the unit is missing or is broken, you can kiss your $34.00 goodbye. WLBonfiglio

[Andrew Pitonyak]

When you choose something, let us know what you used and how you like it.

I own a Keller jig, but I think that is only good for through dovetails. I don't use it since I cut all of my dovetails by hand.

If you managed to wear out your last jig, I want to guess that you may cut many half-blind dovetails. if so, you might want to consider a nicer jig, but if it is metal, then it probably won't wear out as fast.

Do you really need (want or desire) the dovetails? Could you use something else? I used pocket hole screws for some drawers once. It worked. I have not tried any of the drawer bits or cutting a special joint on a table saw, but many people happily do it.

For drawers, I have historically cut full dovetails and then applied a drawer front so that it makes no difference. note that I am not doing this with inset drawers.

[Steve Demuth]

He probably has moved on, seeing as William was responding to a 9 year old thread. :)

[William Bonfiglio]

I found out that the templates for the D2796 fit the Harbor Freight jig perfectly. Instruction for their use are included in the online manual at the Woodstockint.com site. WLBonfiglio