Harbour Freight DT Jig

[Joe Scharle]

I just couldn't help myself. When I got an email from Harbor Freight selling this jig for $29.00, I had to see it. First, it weighs a respectable 20 lbs., has lots of knobs and some levers that appeal to the engineer in me. The comb was as expected, rough. 5 minutes with a ROS and light filing took off the rough spots. The comb miked out to within .003" across; within tolerance. All adjustments are gross, but with some patience can be brought in within an hour of test cutting if you ignore the Chinglish instructions. This jig appears to be designed or at least manufactured for drawer construction only. Typical ¾" front & ½" sides setup with ease. ¾" to ¾" joints would need a longer bit and be positioned away from the lower edge stops.
After initial setup, I popped this out in 10 minutes. I'll use this jig for standard drawers now that it's setup for that purpose.

I would not recommend this jig as your all-purpose, will only buy one dovetail jig. But if you'd like a 'never change the setting, drawer maker only', it's cheap enough.

Brought to you by the:

The Cheap Tool Review Board and the American Tomato Council
A BFH Production

 

[fsdogwood]

There was some written experience from people figured out how to use
this jig. And this one is _almost_ identical to several other name brand
ones, so if you find the instructions/manual hard to follow, the ones
from some other brand might help.
Here's the link to the manual:
http://www.woodstockinternational.com/dovetail.cfm

HF also carries the "comb", in different sizes, but I am afraid those
are mail order only.

One question, what shank router bit (1/2" or 1/4") did you use for
dovetailing using this jig?

 

[D L Ames]

Great review Joe, thanks.:icon_thum

D L

 

[Joe Scharle]

Great manual, thanks for the site fsdogwood. This one calls for a 7/16 bushing and a 1/4" shank bit.

 

[fsdogwood]

Thanks, that my concern becomes true, as I don't have any 1/4" shank
router bit yet.

 

[Joe Scharle]

fsdogwood, thanks for that great site. I printed off the manual, punched 3 holes in the paper and it's now in my shop book. This AM I knocked all of the adjustments off the jig and set it by that manual. took 20 min;easy to follow. First cut perfect, better than my initial fudge up. The router base to fence chart is just great among the other notes.

 

[sapwood]

Nice review Bladeburner!

It's nice to have a review on something I might actually be able to afford :mrgreen:

Sapwood

 

[gator]

thanks to fsdogwood -

I have had one of these for about three years and gone back to it about every six months to try to get it set up right. Never sucessful. Maybe the woodstock manual will help, I hope.

George

 

[NCPete]

I have that from same jig from Rockler, setup was easy with the Rockler instructions, in fact, I guessed at it the first try, (Directions? Who needs directions?) and things came out pretty wrong. Then I read the bit about adjusting bit depth, and my joints were spot on!

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for the great review! I've had that jig for about two years now, and all I've got around to doing with it is to mount it on a base.:roll:

 

[lwhughes149]

I was lucky to get a Craftsman dovetail jig that my brother had. I have a manual with it but haven't gotten around to using it yet. I will be using it very soon however when I tackle three drawers on my nightstand. You guys make me wonder just how difficult it will be to set up. I do have an ace in the hole if I find it too difficult, my teacher who lives nearby. I will attempt to do it myself first. Think I will check out the manual that was discussed here and make a copy of it never know when something will come in handy. Good price on that jig. And who was it that purchased a jig and only got around to mounting it on a base? We need to give him a project to make. :-D

 

[Ryan]

I'm the lazy one who has done nothing with his jig except mount it to a base! I have discovered that it makes a fine dust collector, just wipe it off every week or so and it collects more!:lol:

 

[grumpy]

fsdogwood : Thanks for that manual note. I think now lots of us will be using our jigs. Harry

 

[chris99z71]

Hmmm...$29...if only SWMBO would let me have THAT kind of money to play with
Great review!
Thanks!

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

this thread makes me kick myself everytime I ready it because I walked past this very jig and said "nah, for 29 bucks it's gonna fall apart the first time I use it". Just goes to show you it's not always the price of the tool that denotes it's usefulness

 

[michaelgarner]

its on sale again, I dont know if its at the store, but it is at the web site. Im going to take the plunge, it will be nice to have a dedicated drawer machine. Be blessed friends.

 

[JohnsonMBrandon]

Hrrrrrrrmmmmm $29.99 does make this tempting just to try out.

 

[michaelgarner]

it is cheaper if you compare it to the clubs tiger woods buys,,lol Be blessed friend

 

[NCPete]

I wonder when the last time Tiger bought clubs was????


ahhhhhh, the joys of being sponsored, to the tune of $40 million annually. On that kind of money, WGD wouldn't be an issue.

 

[michaelgarner]

ohhh yes pete, dont you have connections with dewalt? maybe they could sponsor the members of NCWoodworker! I think 40M would cover just about everyone except WoodGuy,,lol. Be blessed friends