I spent this past weekend (November 13-14/2010) testing a borrowed Akeda DC16 Dovetail jig by building a small oak tool box. While I made a LOT of silly beginner errors, the jig itself performs flawlessly. It is very well designed and built and even better, it is all Canadian!! The clamping is exceptional with a small removable knob that can crank at either end of the jig. The template fingers snap in and out very quickly and with repeatable accuracy. The refined look and considerable heft of this Dovetail jig provides a convincing image and feel of quality that many products coming from China do not offer today. It is easy to see why this Dovetail jig is considered to be a lifetime purchase. I can't imagine ever wearing it out in my shop. I have looked closely at several other dovetail jigs like the Leigh, Porter Cable, Rockler, Busy Bee, WoodRat and others. As a Mechanical design engineer and keen woodworker, the Akeda was very compelling to me. The Rockler looked pretty good because of it's very low price, good reviews and dust collection, but the Akeda has the look of a Mercedes against a lot of lesser models that would probably frustrate me as a user. My quick thoughts on the ones I considered are as follows: - Leigh - consensus says too complicated and time consuming to set up, but excellent quality from a Canadian Manufacturer. - Porter Cable - too expensive and no obvious dust collection on the ones I saw. - Rockler - excellent price, good dust collection but probably not the quality and simplicity I want. - Busy Bee - no dust collection and Chinese made. - WoodRat - way too complex for my tastes.
I am virtually certain that my next project with dovetails will be significantly better than my first attempt. All of my problems on my first project were strictly related to my inexperience. What the jig is designed to do, is done with total perfection. My hat is off to the designers and builders of this product. Even the instruction manual is exceptionally well done.
Akeda DC16 with excellent dust collection
Akeda DC16 Dust Collection is Excellent
The Akeda DC16 has excellent dust collection. A router used as a hand held tool can generate a huge mess in a woodworking shop. This one collects about 95% of the chips and dust. The little bit that flys out can be vacuumed up in a minute or less.
My First Practise Project with the Akeda DC16 Dovetail Jig
My First Dovetail Jig Project with the Akeda DC16 Dovetail Jig
This small oak tool box was made for my Bosch PS50 Multi-X tool and accessories. It was my first ever attempt to make dovetail joints and was an exceptional learning exercise that will really help me to do a better job on my next dovetail project.
