Jet 709060 12-Inch Dovetail Jig

 (14 customer reviews)

After spending the last three hours setting up the dovetail jig I was able to fashion my first drawer to my finicky expectations.As others stated, the instructions leave a _lot_ to be desired, hence the three hour setup.The hardest part of the setup is getting the dovetail bit at the
perfect height so the joint is neither loose nor too tight. Once you have this height. LEAVE THE BIT IN THE ROUTER!Use of a straight "clearing bit" saves wear and tear on your dovetail bit. If you decide to use a clearing bit, put it in another router (I'm using a $70.00 cheapo router I got a couple of years ago)
The crucial concept in setting the height is that
you need to adjust 1/2X of what you measure. This is because you're affecting both the pins and tails. For a perfect fit, instead of adjusting the bit and making another pass, cut off the old pins and tails and start fresh.
One more thing. After you make the first pass, go back a second time to clean up...Read more

the tool is a good product and at $...also a good value. the only problems encountered were with the manual the technical writing contained errors one being the bit depth listed at 7/8" at this depth you will be burning the top of the wood because the cutting head on the bit is not deep enough the, corect distance is 5/8". a friend let me borrow his manual for the woodstock 12" jig and the people at jet could learn alot from this manual instead of vague descriptions you see detailed drawings and a comprehensive trouble shooting guide. after adjustments I have to say I am very happy with this purchase it is consistant and quick as well as gives a clean joint.

As a previous review said, the manual contains technical errors. You will need to figure out the correct settings for the adjustable back bar. Once I figured out the correct numbers and got the bit depth set (bit depth is always trial and error with any jig) it worked great. I made test drawers out of scrap 3/4" plywood with perfect results. I then made some sample joints using other scraps - particle board, solid oak - with equally perfect results. All this after about 2 hours of set up and learning. Now I can make these joints fairly quickly. This same style jig is sold under many brand names that all appear to be identical. I previously had 2 of these from Harbor Freight that looked the same, but the fit and finish was awful. I returned both.