Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-6, страница 50

General Tools

Economical jig with a built-in alignment feature that cuts both through and half-blind joints. www.generaltools.com (800) 697-8665

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stock up to about 1" thick or even a modified version of a through dovetail on 1/2" or thinner stock.

Aside from its almost pocket-change price ($54.96), there are several more things I really like about this jig. Since it doesn't capture stock left to right, it will accept workpieces of any width, from drawers to big chests. A little aligning tool clips into the fingers to reset it for each series of cuts.

The Dovetailer is outfitted with a plastic, adjustable depth-of-cut scale, and the bottom of the scale doubles as a toothed adjuster plate. It enables you to register the tail board correctly on the jig's tail fingers using the pin board as a reference. Quite slick.

Dovetail Jig $249

One-piece phenolic template and wraparound stops make through dovetailing easy on the router table. www.japanwoodworker.com (800) 537-7820

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Tool Review

Teeth on the Dovetailer's gray adjuster plate help you register the tailboard for routing using the pin board as a guide. This ensures that the board edges will line up on the finished joint.

Dovetailer $54.96

General suggests that this jig can be used inverted on a router table, but I have concerns with how closely it places your left fingers to the bit. I used it instead with a handheld router at the bench. I found the jig's platform to be large enough for stable routing, and after a few bit-depth adjustments, my joints snugged up nicely. Bit depth is the only variable you'll need to fuss with. The router bit could really use a stop collar below the bearings to keep them from migrating on the shaft and possibly slipping off the guide fingers. Otherwise, here's a well-designed, affordable jig. If you rout dovetails often or just now and then, the Dovetailer will be easy on your patience as well as your wallet.

Long runs of dovetails are possible with this jig by snapping in an aligning tool to index the jig for each new set of cuts. Blanket chests or deep drawers are fair game.

Gifkins Dovetail Jig

The Gifkins Dovetail Jig hails from Australia, which explains why I had never heard of it before researching this article. I sure wish it were on my radar years ago. It makes through dovetailing exceptionally easy to do on the router table. The system is designed around a thick, one-piece phenolic bottom template that cuts pins on one side and tails on the other. An aluminum spine and pair of replaceable MDF backup boards provide good support over the template to hold workpieces vertically.

Tool Review continues on page 54 ...