Rockler Dovetail jig

[Swingman]

I've never had one fail either; and for a decorative touch, and in lieu of a brad for more strength, I've used 1/8" copper rod, or a contrasting wood, to pin them with.

Bingo!

Here you go. Not much to it ... just a rough screen capture/SU version of the steps, in the correct order.

Often in the past didn't do a locking rabbet drawers enough to trust my memory on my preferred order on the TS since the last time I did a batch. Basically just wanted something I could use to refresh my memory, or explain to someone else, away from the shop using a smart phone or iPad.

[Dick Snyder]

I happened to learn to my dismay today that Rockler has replaced the jig I have (it is blue if you happen to know it) with a new an improved model but they no longer have any spare parts for the old jig. Since the old jig was kind of shakey in a couple of areas I may be in the market for a new dovetail jig at somepoint anyway. I saw your reference to the PC 4210. I had thought that when I need to get a new jig I would get that one (4212 actually as you can do half blind and full dove tails with that one). I would be interested in knowing why you don't like that one. BTW, I am the original poster of this topic.

Dick Snyder

[Dick Snyder]

Very nice. I book marked that video on my woodworking "how to do it" stuff. Thank you for posting it.

[Pat Barber]

I think mine is the 4212. It's a very nice jig.....BUT When I got mine, I followed the instructions to the letter and could not get a half blind dovetail to save my rear end.

I spent an entire Saturday chewing up plywood and gave up on that and went to 3/4" white pine. I planed that down to 1/2" and had perfectly flat and square material.

I "finally" got a "fair" joint but not what I would call perfect.

I made a visit to my tool vendor and told them my story.

They laughed and told me that the bit provided by PC was out of spec and I needed to buy a real bit made by Freud to get the "perfect" results.

They did get better but the jig required a LOT more setting up to get the desired results.

It's just not worth it to me to have to fight my own tools to get the results I want. I stick with the locking rabbet for the future.

I can always do thru dovetails if I really want to go to the trouble.

Your results may be entirely different.

[Pat Barber]

Yep...I agree and all of my DT jigs were at least consistent in producing the same poor joints.

They are one of the few tools I have bought in the last 20 years that I was very disappointed in.

No more fighting....I'll switch.

[Leon]

I cant imagine a bit being out of spec unless it wobbled so much that it would not make consistent cuts. Assuming we are still talking half blind DT's.

[Gramps' shop]

Dick ...

There is a new post on a Leigh 24 inch dovetail jig at Sawmill Creek classifieds forum.

Larry

[Dick Snyder]

Thanks for the detailed reply Pat. I know the Leigh jig is supposed to be the best but it is too much money for my taste. Thanks again too for posting the sketchup video of your process for making the locking rabbet joints. 12 years ago before I started doing any woodworking I had a professional cabinet maker do a builtin for our new house. The locking rabbet joint is what he used. I have always wondered how he got that perfect fit. Now I know.

Dick

[Swingman]

If I had to chose between my Leigh D4 and my Akeda DC16, I believe I would take the Akeda for half blind dovetails for the consistency between the _first and last part cut_.

What always bothered me about the Leigh is that about half way through a production run of say 40 drawer sides with half blinds dovetail, the fit would start to suffer. No matter how consistent and careful you were in using the router, somehow, somewhere, the carefully aligned setup would go South enough to throw the fit off.

That does not engender confidence in your equipment when running carefully dimensioned, expensive stock through the process.

And, the Akeda is a tad bit easier to setup, although the documentation is not nearly as illuminating as the Leigh's instruction manual.

Start and scroll to the right the next three photos (that is if Google, in their infinite wisdom in knowing better than I want I want to accomplish, doesn't redirect you to a Miley Cyrus twerk).

Biggest problem with the Akeda is, and last time I checked, that the company for all practical purposes has gone out of business, although you could/can still buy needed parts.

[Pat Barber]

The problem was the bit was .0002 off in size and that greatly affected the end result. That's what you get using cheaply produced bits from China. PC later switched suppliers and the problem went away.

I suspect my jig just had the bad luck of getting one of the bad bits.

I contacted PC about the problem and they sent me 2 new bits but never mentioned the fact about wrong sized bits being a issue.

I was finally able to produce half blind dovetails but with a great deal of "readjusting"....

[Pat Barber]

as the Leigh's instruction manual.

Those were good looking drawers.

It's a shame Akeda didn't just sell the rights to the product to another company like PC so they could continue on. Another great idea bites the dust.

[Swingman]

Thanks.

And, speaking of dust, another thing I like about the Akeda ... that photo was taken during routing ... note the absence of dust.

Hooked up to the Festool C22E, you can hardly tell you've cut a set of dovetails _with a router_.

[Leon]

I'm not going to doubt that you had bit problems, I have heard the same else where.

BUT I would suspect that every bit manufactured would be out by at least by two ten thousandths.

I suspect that in addition to the bit there has to be another problem as you indicated that a replacement bit did not totally solve the problem.

Either way, I'm with you, blind DT's are a PIA.

[woodchucker]

Selling the rights does not guarantee continuation. I have watched many companies buy the rights to produce, and then can the product. They just want to eliminate the competition. Smart or asshole companies whichever way you think about it, try to negotiate a royalty, because they know they will not produce it. Then they get it for practically nothing. A company wanting to sell has to include a guarantee in there contract that the company markets and produces it to a certain level to protect their interests or not do the royalty type of contract.

[Matt Mangels]

I think I acquired the same blue jig off someone from Craig's list a couple years back. I'm still very much a rookie but practicing as much as I can. I've spent a lot of time working with this jig, but unfortunately it didn't come with a manual. I looked online but am only able to find instructions for the grey model which seems to have a different scale/setup than the blue one. Most problematic, I can't find any definitive advice on where to set the template fingers so I know I'll get the proper cut depth without a lot of trial and error. The adjustment I'm referring to is the two bolts on the very back of the machine that let you slide the plastic template forward and back. Also having problems keeping the template parallel to the work piece. Do you happen to have any setup instructions or advice on that? Thanks!