What is the Best Dovetail Jig?

Is there a best dovetail jig? In my humble opinion, I say No. Just like it is impossible to say there is one best automobile, I cannot categorize one dovetail jig as being the best. I recently read an advertisment where Scott Phillips has designated the AKEDA as the hands down best jig available. It's good. Very good. But I do not agree with anyone saying it, or the Leigh, or the [place name here] jig is the absolute best dovetail jig. I have purchased five dovetail jigs over the past 20 years. Peter Collins of Woodcraft kindly provided us with the AKEDA DC-16 free of charge for the purpose of this review. Consequently, I have had the opportunity to use these jigs to produce dovetails for a wide variety of projects. I find that each jig has its strengths and weaknesses.

All of the popular dovetail jigs produce perfect fitting joints. Period. Consequently, base your decision regarding which jig is best or the best jig for you on the features you're looking for and your specific priorities. For instance:

Here is a run down of the dovetail jigs for which I have the most experience:

Leigh D4
I purchased our Leigh 1258R many years ago as my first dovetail jig, and frankly it provides just about everything you could want from a dovetail jig. The Leigh D4 (or 1258R With the D4 upgrades) does it all and does it well. I recently disassembled and reassembled the Leigh and have been using it side-by-side with the AKEDA. It remains at least tied for the most versatile jig out there, all things considered (variety of dovetails and layouts, dovetail geometry, and so forth). It provides infinite joint fit adjustment capability and only the WoodRat provides a greater range of cutter diameters and angles (half-blind joints only).

On the downside, it lacks dust collection, routing half-blind dovetails require you to make and fit filler blocks, and though it handles assymetrical layouts, doing so requires two left and right setups. I often say I would love to have a dime for all of the unused or only slightly used Leigh dovetail jigs sitting under workbenches collecting dust. But with all that said, if you want the absolutely most flexible, do-it-all dovetail jig, and you are willing to put up with the setups and test cuts, and will either use the jig frequently or don't mind reading the user's guide, the Leigh is hard to beat. Check out our Leigh 1258R/D4 review.

AKEDA DC-16
The AKEDA benefits from being a newer generation tool, designed by someone who has designed dovetail jigs and other woodworking jigs for professional shops for a long time. The AKEDA provides the versatility of the Leigh with the ease of use of a fixed jig like the Keller and PC Omnijig. It is simply a joy to use. Its ergonomics such as the one-handed clamp and its dust collection capability are second to none. Its ease of initial setup is second to none. Its overall ease of use is right there with the Keller and PC Omnijig. It may be the best all around performer and the best choice for woodworkers who don't want to mess around with a dovetail jig, don't use the jig every day, don't like reading through user's guides, yet want to produce a variety of flawless joints. One feature of the jig I especially appreciate is how quickly you can produce a drawer using a combination of half-blind dovetail joints (joining the sides to the front) and through dovetail joints (joining the sides to the rear). The jig allows you to share the tail layout for both sets of tail joints, the only difference being the clamp bar position. The two sets of pins use their particular guide fingers, but share the same layout pencil marks. During video taping, I produced a drawer using half-blind and through dovetails in less than 15 minutes, including setup!

On the downside, the AKEDA does not provide infinite adjustment of fit and joint layout (fingers move laterally in 1/8" increments). In regards to fit, you adjust fit by using one of three straight cutters. I have found this to be acceptable, and it is the price you pay for having the Leigh functionality with the Keller ease of use. Check out our AKEDA DC-16 review.

Keller 1601
The Keller is the most basic and easy to use through dovetail jig we own. If you want absolute simplicity, this is perhaps the jig for you. It produces a perfectly tight fit without testing, every time. It has unlimited width capacity and is an absolute pleasure to use. I love its bearing guided router bits (versus the guide bushings of the Leigh, AKEDA, and Omnijig). I like the fact that the debris exits away from the operator. The Keller can be used with a hand-held router, or you can flip the Keller upside down and use it on a router table (similar to the Katie). You might consider adding Keller's Pro-Clamp kit, as it greatly speeds up and simplifies using the Keller (although my experience with the Pro-Clamp kit is that it is less than perfect). Oh, and the Keller is one of the most commonly used dovetail jigs in commercial shops.

On the downside, using the Keller to produce variable-spaced dovetails is time-consuming and it does not do half-blind dovetails. However, if you're planning on producing drawers with applied fronts, the through dovetail joint produced by the Keller will appear as a half-blind joint once the false front is applied. Check out our Keller 1601 review.

PC Omnijig 5116/7116
The PC Omnijig is built like a tank. The ground cast iron surfaces of the base are impressive. The initial setup of the jig is very easy (get the video). Using the jig could not be simplier. Since you cut two work pieces at a time (front/side or back/side), time spent dovetailing is cut in half compared to the Leigh and similar jigs. Also, since you cut the two adjoining work pieces at the same time, proper fit is assured and chipout is minimized. As a dedicated half-blind dovetail jig, it has no peer, short of buying a Dodds Dovetailer machine. For additional cost, you can purchase templates to cut "traditional" through dovetails, box joints, and so forth. I have not purchased nor used these templates, and have not figured them into the equation of this treatment of dovetail Jigs.

On the downside, the PC Omnijig, at least in its standard configuration, does not produce variable-spaced or asymmetrical half-blind dovetails. Consequently, you size the drawer (7/8" increments) to the jig, not visa-versa. Furthermore, the included and specified 1/2" 14° cutter produces a shallow, bland-looking, dovetail joint. The joint is reasonably strong, and it is similar to the joints you see in "mass-produced" kitchen drawers, but it is not as aesthetically pleasing as the joints produced using the Leigh, AKEDA, or WoodRat. This is not to say you don't have options. I have discovered (and contrary to popular belief and statements on other web sites/magazine articles) that you can use different cutters to produce a much more pleasing-looking joint. Click Here to read my article regarding cutter options. And while you're at it, check out our PC 4112 review. (A review of our 7116 Omnijig is in the works.)

My Choice?
If I was required to choose only one jig from this lot, and fortunately I do not have to do so, I would choose between the Leigh and the AKEDA because they cut the two most important types of dovetails: through and half-blind. Choosing between the Leigh and the AKEDA would be very difficult. The only reservation I have with the AKEDA is its 16" width capacity. This does not mean you cannot produce projects of widths greater than 16", but the jig will only accomodate widths less than 16". For 95% of what we do, this is not a problem. The overall ease of use of the AKEDA, across the broad variety of dovetails it produces, is amazing. The "ergonomics" of the jig including the one-handed clamping, snap-in guide fingers, and dust collection are icing on the cake. The Leigh's advantage is its capability to fine tune the fit and provides slightly more flexibility in layout since its fingers are not indexed. Fortunately, at least for the moment, I can keep my cake and eat it to! Lately I have been asked which jigs I actually use the most. In order, most to least: I use the AKEDA and Keller almost equally, followed by the Omnijig and the Leigh.

The following table is my attempt at rating the features of the jigs. Rating these jigs is a difficult task. For one the PC Omnijig offers significant additional capability through the purchase of optional templates, and the Keller will do just about anything you can imagine with through dovetails, at the price of additional manual effort. Again, all of these jigs perform their stated tasks perfectly well. Click on the ratings highlighted in blue to access additional information regarding the rating.

Alternatives and Other Jigs

Don't discount making through dovetail joints by hand or the hybrid method employing both the bandsaw and hand. If you're not doing a ton of through dovetail joints, doing them by hand makes sense. If you're a novice at making through dovetail joints by hand, buy or rent the Dovetail a Drawer video by Frank Klausz. Actually, this video teaches more than just dovetails. I found his general woodworking techniques to be very enlightening. Here is a run down of dovetail jigs you might consider:

The $19.99 Half-Blind Dovetail Jig
The Popular Woodworking September 1999 issue ran an article on a $19.99 half-blind dovetail jig. Click here to view the article in PDF Format. The author (Troy Sexton) explains how to make a simple router template to machine the pins. The tails are cut on the bandsaw. The price of "$19.99" includes $11 for a 23/32" diameter template guide and $8.95 for 1/2" 14 degree a dovetail bit. You probably already have these items. The simplified process:

1. Rip a 5/16" thick template the same width as your drawer pieces.
   
   
2. Use a dado to cut notches on one end of the template. One notch per tail.
   
   
3. Clamp the template to the back side of the drawer front.
   
   
4. With your router sitting on top of the template, run the router in and out of the notches.
   
   
5. Use the cut pins to layout the tails.
   
   
6. Cut the tails on your bandsaw.