I am pondering which dovetail jig to buy. I don’t have a budget for a Delta Omnijig…right now anyway but am looking at the Delta 4212, a wood tek model, a rockler jig and also one called a Prazi 3900. I am leaning to the Prazi as there is no limit on board width. What would you suggest given my limited description. I have never used a dovetail jig as all my experience in drawer making has been with screws and butt-joints or dado/rabbets. I did recently begin working on hand cutting dovetails as a method to improve my skills and focus as I read in an issue of FW-I believe last year. I have been surprised (for the good) at my progress although I cannot see myself relying on hand cut dovetails in general. right now I’m finishing the design process of new kitchen cabinets and there will be too many drawers. Thanks to all of you who so freely lend advice and guidance on Knots.
Ed/Tempe, Az
Edited 4/13/2009 8:11 pm ET by EdsShop
Replies
I bought a Keller jig and am pleased with the results.I wont do half blind or variable spacing but what it does do it does it very well. Used a porter cable omi jig what a nightmare.....later Rickk
I don't know the price that the jigs carry that you mentioned, but I went with a Leigh 18" Super Jig. I couldn't justify spending the big money for the DR4 but I wanted some of the features that it has. I figured the 12" model of the super jig may get old after a while, but the 24" variety would never be used so I settled for the 18" and have been happy every since. Take a look there and see if the price fits you. Good luck!
Bio
If you have a supplier near you, Ed, it would be helpful to go in and actually look at the jigs. The new PC OmniJig is beautiful, but it's quite large, and would really require a dedicated DT station because of size and weight.
In general terms, I'd suggest considering the types of DTs you want to make most of the time, and whether you want variable spacing for machine-cut DTs. When I went through that process, I concluded that fine adjustments on variable spacing wasn't a requirement for me, and opted for the PC 4212/4216 jig. The 12" maximum width was OK for me, since I prefer to hand-cut DTs on wider material. Ease of setup and precision of material positioning was a larger issue. (Lack of precise positioning results in sloppy or non-fitting DTs.)
The Prazi looks versatile, but the fit of the joints depends on the precision of the fit between the registration pin on the jig and the kerfs in the indexing boards. That translates to a new variable for each tail or pin.
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