I'm thinking of buying Dovetail Jig.

woodline has some cheap systems that seem to work and woodcraft has a basic jig that they stock. Good luck

-- making sawdust....

If you have some spare time on your hands to set up -resetup and resetup the Jig you can get the one from Harbor Freight. It is inexpensive and may be a good starter unit.

-- Hope Never fails

Dovetails are kind of a show off type joint. If they are not really perfect, they don’t look so good. Maybe you should try to use another joint to do what you want that does not require such perfection. There are many types of joints that can be used for drawers that will look really nice.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Thank you for the replies.
To anyone who read my post before I edited it thanks for deciphering the rambling question.
That’s what happens you wake up and sit in bed with the laptop without grabbing your glasses.
When I get a jig I was planning on a lot of practice before attacking any good wood. I have found out that hand cutting dovetails is something I will never master.

-- Frank Auge---Nichols NY----"My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked, but it is price competitive."

I’ve got a super cheap even spacing blind dovetail jig. It was worth the $80 or so that I spent on it, but next time I’ll go bigger. I think Rockler has a cheap one that gives more control, including different width pins and tails, and I’d seriously consider that if I were going to go cheap next time.

The things I know of to look for in a dovetail jig (and I’m a newbie) are:

• General alignment: My super cheap one has a slightly warped frame. It’s been fine for what I use it for (drawers and larger boxes), but for fine small box work it wouldn’t be reasonable.
• Through vs blind: Generally blind dovetails are cut in one pass, with both pieces clamped at right angles, through dovetails are cut in two passes, the tails with a dovetail bit, the pins with a straight bit.
• Spacing of the pins: At the low end you’re not going to get complete control over spacing, but some of the low end systems do have templates that let you have narrow pins and wide tails, or even some templates for fixed widths (Rockler advertises 4”, 5”, 7” and 10”) with alternating or other interesting spacings.
• Dust collection.

Were I to do it again I think I’d get the Rockler $140 jig with one of the “Distinctive Series” templates (on special for $20 right now) and the appropriate bits. It’d come to about twice what you were hoping to pay, but I think you’d get four times the utility of a simple half-blind cut-it-all-in-one-pass no dust collection option jig.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

I have the Porter-Cable. It doesn’t cost too much and is available from Wood craft and about a dozen other places. It can be had with through dovetail capablity and is understood by many who can help you if need be.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

FrankA,

Machine made dovetails on a box look artificial and showy in the wrong sense. Machine made dovetails make a lot of sense on drawers (mechanical joint that will survive the glue failing) but not on boxes. A simple miter joint with keys is visually more interesting since you can break the repetitive machine made pattern. As suggested before, if you do not get them perfect (probably about 1 hours setup time if you cannot keep a router only for this task and always work with fixed width stock) they look bad. Handcut dovetails are, of course, a different deal and can be used to a great effect. Look around on this website for boxes people have made to see what joints you can put on your own boxes.

Alin

-- -- Alin Dobra, Gainesville, Florida

If you are going to buy a jig, buy a good one. Porter Cable makes a decent jig, and it’s only a couple hundred bucks.

I do my dovetails by hand, not because they are superior, but because I am cheap. My wife is always impressed (with the dovetails) even if they are slightly imperfect. Never give up on that one. Perfection is a journey.

-- The only easy wood project is a fire

The Keller Journeyman dovetail jig I believe can’t be beat for cost $145 at Woodcraft. I had complete success the first time I used it. It only makes through dovetail though. My LJ brother and I used it to make a large toy box for his granddauther and It came out great. If you want to see it just click on my projects listed as toy chest for daughter of niece.

-- bobdurnell, Santa Ana California.

Porter Cable has a new one out that’s running about $110. Everybody is carrying it, Lowes and such. (maybe it’s not new, but, i don’t remember them having one that cheap for awhile.)

Looks good, but, don’t know. I spotted it and started thinking….hhmmmmm..maybe I needs me a dovetail machine.

Guess I may agree with Alin and disagree with Spalm….maybe. I’ve been given lectures on how “people” can tell a hand made dovetail from a machine made one. If one of those “people” is paying for hand-made craftsmanship, they’re not going to want machine stuff.

I posted a thread awhile back about what the deal is with people (various woodworkers) thinking everything has to be perfect (joints and surfaces and what-not) then they spend more time making it look rustic and hand worked. I still haven’t reconciled that mindset yet.

My bosses son started some apprenticing with Randy O’donnel (don’t know if he’s a famous/known kinda guy or not.) He’d come back to the shop and try to make hand cut dovetails. Looks to me like I would rather machine cut them, then, rustic-ify them by hand.

Guess it’s a personal asthetic choice. Of course let us know which one you get so we (maybe just me) can drool alittle.

-- arborial reconfiguration specialist

My wife (bless her) bought me the 12-inch Porter Cable for Christmas. I think it ran about $120-$150, but I was so happy she did it, I didn’t ask the price. It will do half blind dovetails (I think that’s what they’re called) and also through dovetails. I’ve played with it a little, and I was impressed. It’s been cold up here in the north and my shop is unheated and outside, so I haven’t done anything extensive. O.K., I’m a wimp. I’m not experienced with dovetails, but have always wanted to create the look. This unit seems fairly easy to work with, but again, I haven’t used it a lot.

-- Tom, Michigan ~ Working with a renewable resource called wood

Alphie, I would not concider you a wimp. Living here in upstate NY my shop is also a detached garage with no insulation or heat. If it is below 35f it is just to cold to work out there. I am hoping for an early spring. I plan on putting a wall up to seperate the shop from the car area and insulate the shop.

-- Frank Auge---Nichols NY----"My opinion is neither copyrighted nor trademarked, but it is price competitive."

Frank, there are lots of opinions regarding dovetails. Machine cut, hand cut, fixed spacing and variable spacing. Although I intend to tackle hand cut dove tails in the near future, for the time being, I’ve got the Porter Cable jig. I bought the PC 4210 at Lowe’s and I think it was $119. This one only does half-blind dovetails. The other version is the 4112 which does half blind and through dovetails as well as standard box joints. One drawback of a fixed template jig is just that. It’s a fixed template. That means your stock width in limited to fixed dimensions of 1” plus 1/4”. So, the width would be 2 1/4”, 3 1/4”, 4 1/4” and so on. The dovetails are centered every inch. (1/2” wide each). This provides for half tails at the top and bottom. I’ve also got the miniture template, I think the 4215 which is basically 1/2 as big as the larger ones. In other words the stock need to be cut in 1/2” increments plus 1/8”. If you want variable spacing, your only option is to skip every other tail (or more) in between. Here’s a link to the Porter cable website which details the 4200 series jigs. 4200 Series Also PC has a supplemental manual in PDF format that shows many variations on how to use this particular jig. (Angled, inlaid etc. )Supplemental Manual
One more thing to mention is that with this system, you are limited to 7 deg. dovetails that are 17/32” width at the widest point. At one point, you could only get these from Porter Cable, but both Freud and Rockler now carry these.

Wood Magazine had an article in the March 2007 (#175) that compared dovetail jigs. They picked the PC 4212 as the “Top Tool Value”.

The bottom line for me was simplicity. Once you’re familiar with it, this think is really easy to use, particularly if doing half blind dovetails as both the tails and pins are formed at the same time.

Well Frank, I hope this helps. Just my $.02 and what works for me.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

1 1/2 years ago I bought the P.C. jig and returned it. It does not allow half-blind dovetails in 1/2” stock, which is something I do. Maybe this has been changed.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

I believe it does 1/2 inch now, John. I use 5/8 stock for all my drawers.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I’ve used 1/2” stock with no problem. I’ve had mine about a year. Maybe there was an older version at some point.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but I’m thinking about getting a Leigh Super 12” dovetail jig for boxes, drawers, and stuff. Does anyone have a suggestion for a place to get one with a good deal? Thanks!

-- Custom Daguerreotypes from your images and more: www.shinyphotos.com

I think Woodcraft carries the Leigh Super 12” jig. If you can hold off until around Father’s Day, you can usually get 10 – 15% off, even more if they offer an additional early bird discount.

-- Todd C, Central Illinois

I have thew newer pC. Works fine.

-- Bruce from Central New York

TO ALL WoodCraft has a 10% off day coming up——with the Free Freight over 75$ you maybe able to pickup the jig at a good buy!

-- Bill - - Ad-Marketing Guy, Ramsey NJ

I have an Akeda, expensive, but it’s the best one I have ever used. I have used, early on, several cheap ones, and thrown them away, or gave them away. I have an old Leigh, which was a pain to set up. I have the Incra set-up, which is great for some of my work. Lots of templates to choose from. But the Akeda is easy, fast and accurate. Really excellent manual, and it’s web site as great, free videos. akeda.com. It will be the last one you buy. Comes in both 16 in., and 24 in for really wide stuff.

While you asked for dovetail jig recommendations, I do dovetails, both half and full, as well as box joints, and other fun things, on my router table using an Incra LS-17. While it’s more expensive than you indicated you wish to pay, they also have a less expensive version (sold at Rockler), and it gives you a lot of other features, which you will find handy in making boxes, which justify the additional cost.

“Dovetails are kind of a show off type joint. If they are not really perfect, they don’t look so good. Maybe you should try to use another joint to do what you want that does not require such perfection. There are many types of joints that can be used for drawers that will look really nice.

—Stevethepeeve—I’m no rocket surgeon”

Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks that way. Dovetails came about because the hide glue of days gone by was bound to fail at some point. They became the mark of “fine craftsmanship,” and the general public still holds on to that to some degree. But with todays adhesives and alternate joining methods, dovetails are no longer the only mark of craftsmanship.

If you woodworks as a hobby I imagine there’s a degree of staisfaction that comes from making them, even though they are jig-assisted nowadays. But for those like myself who do it for a living, they just add time to a project.

Boardman, what “alternative joinery methods” do you use instead?

I’m relatively sure that Titebond III is going to hold together my butt joints but you know what? A dovetail, box joint, or a through-tenon just looks nice. I choose to use the DT, box joint, etc. because of their looks.

-- Custom Daguerreotypes from your images and more: www.shinyphotos.com

I recently bought the PC 4212. I didn’t know there was a supplemental manual till now. Thanks Carl!

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Chestmate for $100 will do what some of the big $ can do

-- WOOD/DON (...one has the right to ones opinion but not the right to ones own facts...)

I have the PC 4216. It works great,but cost more than $200 .

-- Al, South E. Az., But it's a dry heat.

I have the CMY 12” dovetail jig. I beleive the cost is around $120 from woodcraft. I have made a ton of drawers with it so far and no problems.