Rutlands Complete Dovetail Jig For £39.95 Is it a good one?

[PeteG]

Would love to use dovetails instead of pocket holes on everything. It's seems a good price, but is it a good'un?

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... kota+dkl35

 

[gwr]

Hi Pete I'm sure that's the very one someone on this forum said it was the easiest one he had used.and wasn't that long ago.Try a search on here I'm sure you will find it.

 

[mseries]

it looks like my Vermont American one only mine is plastic. Like mine it only does half blind dovetails. For the price I'd say it's worth a punt, however it looks like the ones that Screwfix were selling and there are load of them on eBay, you might find a cheap secondhand one which is less to lose if you don't like it.

 

[doctor Bob]

You get what you pay for..... it's rubbish.

 

[Racers]

Spend the money on a dovetail saw.

I had the Trend one and used it a few times, it works well enough but takes ages to set up, I can do them quicker by hand.

Sold it and never looked back.

Pete

 

[Steve Maskery]

You will get solid results very quickly.

But.

Yo will also very quickly realise its limitations. The pins and tails are all the same size, so it's not very elegant. Also, your workpiece really has to be a multiple of the tails size, so you are limited in design options. These two things will soon frustrate you.

I second Pete's advice to buy a good saw and learn to use it. It's a lot quieter and much, much more satisfying to use.

I do batches on the bandsaw, which is a good compromise between speed and versatility, but for a one-off I'd pick up a saw.

S

S

 

[foxhunter]

This is the jig mentioned as easy to use. Setting up is a doddle. But I'm sorry to say the instructions are rubbish, photo copies and pages in the wrong order.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... ota+dk1101

 

[Graham Orm]

Would love to use dovetails instead of pocket holes on everything. It's seems a good price, but is it a good'un?

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... kota+dkl35

I have a Trend one for sale, hardly used.

Just priced them on Ebay they are £99 new yours for £50 plus p&p http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-CDJ...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item20d1c49b7c

 

[mailee]

No, as Bob stated it is rubbish. It is the Dakota one that Rutlands sell that is the easiest one to use. It is just an alloy template and two cutters. I think it is a bit more expensive than that one but certainly much better. :wink:

 

[PeteG]

Apologies for the late reply gents, been a little busy trying to get the table saw work station finished...I'm nearly there! I Appreciate the help deciding, and I think I'll hang fire for a while.
Don't know agreat deal about dovetails, and even had to look up what a "Half blind" one is, now it makes sense. Hadn't realised you had to purchase various sizes of combs either which
seem expensive! Thought the Rutlands offer may have been a bargain after receiving a deal of the day mail shot saying there was £50.00 off...
I can imagine how satisfying it would be to cut them by hand, but to be honest, it would scare the bejesus out of me. Out of curiosity, would you cut dovetails by hand in plywood and MDF!
Not to worry, I'll keep using the pocket holes for now.