Does anybody have any experience with the DoveTail TemplateMaster product?

[Ray Kinzler]

As I start to delve more and more into this crazy hobby, I find myself wanting to try dovetails in the worse way. I don't have plans on buying a $400 jig for my dad's old router because I don't have any plans on making tons of dovetails..yet.

I want to be able to eventually learn how to cut them by hand but I am also chomping at the bit to try it with a ruter, too. After reading the recent thread about the cheap-o HF jig, I ran across this thing called the "DoveTail TemplateMaster" and information can be found at this site:

anybody have any thoughts on this thing? It costs $40.00, so it won't break the bank but, at the same time, I don't want to waste my money!

Another reason I want to get this is because I gagged a couple weeks ago when I went to use the Japanese pullsaw my sister bought me for Christmas two years ago. I was all ready to do some practicing just cutting some straight lines. When I took the cardboard covering off, there staring back at me was my poor, poor saw! Two chunks of teeth each about 1/2" long were completely broken off! Turns out my nine-year-old daughter was using it and, when she saw it wasn't cutting straight down the line she drew on a scrap piece of wood, she tried to sort of force it back to the line and must've snapped the brittle steel. She got scared and wrapped it up again and didn't tell me. I wanted to scream but how can you do that when she is trying? No big deal...I will just buy another one. She can mess around with the broken one until she gets better.

In any event, I would like to know what thoughts there are on this Dovetail Template product.

Thanks!

[john moorhead]

Ray -

I've had the template master for a couple of years now, and I'd buy it again. The jig is for making templates, so you are using their jig to make a jig to make dovetails. Once you're done, setup is minimal for being able to knock out dovetail joints pretty quickly.

I've heard a number of complaints about having to use the jig to make a jig, because it IS an extra step. Well, it is, but you do save time on the back end.

Stots is a scaredy cat with the lawyers, so he has a bunch of legal BS about the use of his product. Ignore it, tear off the EULA tab and get to it.

I would buy it again and consider it a good value. I would however, also purchase the bits that he sells with the unit. It makes things far faster incase you don't have the right angle bits available locally (8 degree or so as I recall)

Hope this helps

[Carl McCarty]