Dovetail Jig, 12-inch

After 2-3 practices on cut off stock, It works well. Like any other tool, the more you use it, the better you get. When using harder stock than Walnut, like Purple Heart, when cutting pins be sure to listen to the router. That way you can hear when the bearing touches the plastic stop, as it's harder to "feel" when using very hard wood. I used a router table, which I'm sure produces better results. Very hard wood, like Wenge, and Purpleheart, is already prone to router and planer tear out. These woods are much harder than domestic hardwoods. The second photo shows Purpleheart and Wenge. I had some minor tear out on one of the Purpleheart tails. That was not the fault of the jig, but the nature of the type wood. A backer board would help. Domestic hardwoods work no problem. Through joints work ok, but don't come out perfect. Ensure the Pins board is cut using the EXACT thickness of the Tails board, like I didn't do. I finally got around to trying Edge-to Edge dovetails. They works well too.. The example is two edge-to-edge dovetails per box side (eight total), mitered, or beveled. It is the Quilted Maple with Leopard wood corners. I did find an issue with the provided bit. On harder wood, harder than Walnut like Purpleheart, or Bloodwood, the bit dulls even more rapidly. But more seriously, on harder wood, it can come loose in the collet. Initially, I thought it was my OEM collet. I bought a Whiteside collet, same thing. Later, I noticed the exposed shank, below the bearings, was shorter than my other ¼" shank bits. Anyway, I burned up the provided bit on the wine rack. Bottom line, the included bit sucks. I now use an Amana 14 degree ½" X ½" dovetail bit, and it works fine. But I guess that helps keep the package price down. I still love the jig, for the price. Edit: A backer board is a must for me now. I like to run a marking gauge lightly the height of tails of the tails on both sides prior to cut. That's just me.

An easy jig to use

I bought this after searching for a mini dovetail jig. I was looking for a jig to cut small dovetails. This is more of a small jig to cut larger dovetails. However, although the instructions say that it works for material thickness of 1/2 inch and greater, I successfully cut through dovetails in material slightly less than 3/8 inch thick. I am done with that part of my project and may never have use for it again. If I were to use it a lot I would be concerned as the plastic pin guides are already showing some wear where the guide bearing rides against them. Speaking of guide bearing - make sure the set screw in the locking collar is good and tight. I used it with a small Menards trim router that I have - the trim router was a good match to this jig. The box with the included foam made it easy to store everything together when I put it away until who knows when.

I am very happy with the jig. I have never made dovetails before, and I did not expect this to be something that I use to complete all of my joinery. I bought this to become familiar with this type of joint. The first try, I had to adjust the router bit down a tiny bit on the tails to make the joint fit, but very easy to set up and makes good joints. My only suggestion would be to purchase a better bit. After a few pieces of wood, this bit dulled and started causing major tear out. The bearings on this bit came apart very quickly, make sure you wear eye protection. I purchased a new bit at Lowes and already had plenty of bearings to keep my work moving. It is small, and if you are trying to create a larger joint, mark it out where you want the pins and tail. If you try to do a larger piece with numerous pins, you have to continually move the piece and re-align it to the jig. Other than that, I am more than satisfied. The next thing that I will add to this will be a backer board to minimize the tear out. I tried using a piece loosely with the jig, had to keep lining it up with the jig and the work piece. I will try to make a dedicated piece that is permanently attacked.

I was pretty excited to get this and then after the first use, I wasn't. The design is pretty flawed. It is not easy to clamp down. I bent the tail section in with just a harbor freight ratchet bar when I was cutting pins. Still can't get it back to square, so I'm having to move the router up and down a bit while cutting tails, which is pretty sketchy even with the two bearings. The material clamps inside of the jig are pretty inconvenient. Each clamp has two threaded rods. A couple turns on one, then a couple on the other, repeat until it's clamped. Also I wish there was rubber or something on it to keep the aluminum from driving into the work piece. It leaves a pretty good dent. Also, the knobs you tighten the work piece clamps with is inconvenient as well, due to the fact that the knobs you tighten on the back side of the jig do not always sit flush with the clamping surface. So it's basically sitting at an angle when you're routing unless you wan't to mega dent your work piece to get them sitting more true to the bottom of the jig. I'm sure that with a router table it is at least 75% better/easier, but unfortunately I don't have a router table, so that feature is useless to me. All in all, it works, it does what it says it does, and the pin side depth adjustments are accurate for the most part with a little adjustment here and there. I would just not recommend this piece to any of my buddies. It's a cool thing to have laying around the shop I guess, but I will be looking for a better replacement. I hope they address the issues, because the price point is good.

I had to wait a week to write a review about this product so that I could come at this from a place of logic rather than anger. I bought this product with the intent of making box joints or dovetailing a box that I was making for my son's school group. For reference, I have been doing woodworking in my home shop for about 15 years and have made both box joints and dovetails by hand. I read other ratings and watched a couple videos and then bought the product thinking I was getting a well made item that would help me make dovetails much more quickly than I could do by hand. I was wrong. First I tried box joints. The packaged instructions claim box joints are a viable way to use this product...the instructions are wrong. I did not have a pattern bit handy so I figured I'd use the bearings off the dovetail bit that came with the product...warning- the bearings do not fit on the shafts of other 1/4" shaft drill bits...So I instead invested in a pattern drill bit at the store. I tried to make box joints on several practice pieces and they just would not line up...I tried 5 or 6 times and made a dusty mess to no avail. I looked for a video on line to see if anyone else had tried the box joints, but I could not find one...I guess that is because it doesn't work. As a side note, the instructions say you need to add a 1/4" shim to the front to make the box joints work...why isn't the shim included with the product?! Although, I guess that doesn't matter, because it isn't possible to line the joints up anyway. So, I regrouped and decided to go ahead with the dovetail joints...that's what the product is supposed to be best at, right? First off, the bit they give you with the package is not good. It is not sharp enough and after practicing with it several times one of the tines broke off the bottom. So, back to the store to buy another bit, this time a dovetail bit. The new bit (a Bosch) was great and the cuts were fairly clean, even in plywood. Only one problem now...the dovetails would not line up. No matter what I tried...raising the bit, lowering the bit, going slower, going faster, different routers, standing on one leg and chewing gum, you name it I tried it. I watched the on-line videos a couple more times...I have no idea what magic they used to make this thing "work" in the videos, but mine would not line up. I finally gave up and made cabinet joints on my table saw. I spent 7 hours of my life that I can never get back, $46 dollars on this product, another $40 on router bits I shouldn't have needed, and used up a whole lot of perfectly good scrap wood only to find that this product is flawed and does not work as advertised (and therefore not at all).

Great jig...after you dial it in with adjustments, nice, tight dovetail joints. I would definitly recommend this. Easy to learn.

This is a handy tool and great for first time users. The instructions are very helpful, tool comes with a dovetail bit as well, so no need to purchase any other items suggested when purchasing the tool. The alignment tools provided with this tool take some patience to set up, but you need to take your time with this detailed joint if you want a tight joint. I did experiment on the joint on scrap pieces of wood as suggested to make sure I got the desired tightness and to learn to work with each of the alignment components. I was building shelves (12-inch wide boards), so I wish I had purchased a tool that could handle the full board width. The slot centering tool provided with this tool is very handy and works well, but the limited width required I reset the tool multiple times for each joint. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase - it is good for joint widths less than 4-inches. If I was to make more shelves, I would invest in the wider unit.