Re Looking for dovetail machine

[srazor]

Look at the Akeda, Leigh, the cheap PC jig (for half blind drawers). Go here for good reviews:

About the Akeda - "It may be the best all around performer and the best choice for woodworkers who don't want to mess around with a dovetail jig, don't use the jig every day, don't like reading through user's guides, yet want to produce a variety of flawless joints."

The Leigh is good but has a LONG learning curve, I use the Akeda much more than my Leigh.

Also the WoodRat jig allows one to mortise and tenon in addition to making small dovetails, the use HSS bits that mimic small hand cut dovetails something that no other jig can do. While I do not own one it is on my list (after a Shepard Tool jointer plane kit, 36+ inch belt sander and a ***DREAM*** Woodmizer portable sawmill).

Period shmeriod

[Mike in Mystic]

than my Leigh.

How do you define LONG? I set my Leigh up and made 8 identical half-blind drawers PERFECTLY in less than 3.5 hours from start to finish, and that included cutting the boards to size on my tablesaw and gluing and clamping them up.

I've used the jig quite a lot since then, sometimes with 3 or 4 month hiatuses and it never takes me more than 5-10 minutes of skimming over the manual to remind myself of the details and I'm off and running again.

I think anyone that says the Leigh has a long learning must be missing something - I'm not sure what. The fact is, I'm no woodworking wizard by any stretch, and for me to find the Leigh so easy to use and give me the great results tells me that it should be like that for just about anyone else, too.

The versatility and capacity make the Leigh a winner over the Akeda in my book. I did a demo of the Akeda at Woodcraft and it did perform great, but to say it was easier to figure out and use than the Leigh is simply misleading.

[Upscale]

I think it's more mind over matter Mike. I remember trying to teach my mother how to program the VCR. Even with the onscreen menus, it was a complete act of frustration. Then I bought her a microwave. In less than ten minutes, she'd programmed the clock and was cooking a three setting meal in the thing. As far as I was concerned, the microwave was a hell of a lot more difficult to program than the VCR.