Thread: Gifkin Jig

The gifkins is fantastic. Just buy one.

The Gifkins is designed for use on a router table .
The leigh and others of that type are for freehand routing.

Kev

Thanks Kev,

I have an older style Triton router table.Would this be OK.

Greg

Hi Strungout. From what I've sen, the Gifkins is good, but can I suggest you spend a bit of time & learn how to cut dovetails by hand.
You won't get them right the first time (you won't with the jig, either), but sooner or later you will, and it soon becomes pretty well as quick as setting up a jig. It gives you much more flexibility - you're not limited by the size of the cutter or the jig - and there is always something about hand-cut dovetails that says 'quality'.

Yes, the Gifkins is an excellent jig and you should cut perfect dovetails straight out of the box. Bear in mind though, the jig can only cut through dovetails and does not cut blind dovetail joints.

Originally Posted by AlexS

Hi Strungout. From what I've sen, the Gifkins is good, but can I suggest you spend a bit of time & learn how to cut dovetails by hand.
You won't get them right the first time (you won't with the jig, either), but sooner or later you will, and it soon becomes pretty well as quick as setting up a jig. It gives you much more flexibility - you're not limited by the size of the cutter or the jig - and there is always something about hand-cut dovetails that says 'quality'.

Hi Alex, What you say is true, hand cut dovetails are something on their own but it does take a long time to learn the techniques which is something I never mastered and gave up on ever making anything with a dovetail joint. I eventually bought a Gifkins and immediately did make a box with perfect joints. I would love to be able to make hand made joints but I have never been able to satisfy myself with the ones I have tried to do.
Guess its horses for courses. Maybe one day I will try again.

G'Day

I bought the master package a while ago and am amazed at the accuracy of the dovetails that it produces. The first time you read through the literature it can be confusing as to what templates and associated router bits to get.

A10 material from 7mm to 13mm
B10 material from 14mm to 22mm
H10 material from 4mm to 10mm

I bought have the A10, B20 and F5 (finger joint) templates by recommendation of Gifkins. Check via e-mail on what suits your needs. They where extremely helpful when I ordered the system and it is Roger himself who answers the e-mails.

I do agree that it is worthwhile to do a few boxes by hand so as to appreciate the joint type and get a handle on how it is made, however if you want to make lots of consistent joints use the jig you wont regret buying it.

I don't have a Triton router but from what I read in these forums it is a perfect match for the Gifkins jig as you can adjust the height from the table top as well as change bits from the table top.

Happy box making

Hi Strungout,

Well, Many people just love the Gifkins jig and it is very easy to use. An excellent choice.

However I would suggest that you need to be clear what you want to make with a Dovetail jig before you make any final decisions, small boxes, (thinner stock), big blanket boxes, (thicker stock), drawers, through dovetails, half blind dovetails etc.

All jigs have limitations of some sort both in what you can make and how easy it is to set up and use. Do some searching on this site for more information, there is plenty.

Just one example is this newish thread that talks about several jigs, uses and limitations etc. by the owners of them. Might be useful.

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=70974

The Triton table should be OK for the Gifkins, (I am no router or jig expert) as long as it is very flat, at least that is what I have been told by others. A Triton router is a bonus as it allows 'above table' bit changes.

If you want dovetails NOW then a jig is the choice to get great results quickly. You can always then spend the time to go 'Darkside' and cut by hand later, for those special projects. For function, a jig will deliver. There are flash jigs that will give variable spacing of the dovetails to get the more aesthetic appeal.

Whatever you choose am sure you will get great satisfaction from producing your first Dovetailed project.

Cheers
Pops

Got a Gifkins and bought the lot. Works beautifully. You don't have the problems that come with the Leigh because you are using the Gifkins with timber clamped in thejig and running it over the bit.
The Legh has a couple of advantages: eg you can do inlaid or double dovetails with it and the variable spacing is almost infinite.
Some users of the leigh seem to have a lot of trouble with tearout. The Gifkins virtually eliminates this problem.

As for a router table, you can build your own, like I did, to Roger's plan. Simple and works a treat.

Originally Posted by AlexS

and there is always something about hand-cut dovetails that says 'quality'.

I may be a philistine but I disagree that hand cut dovetails automatically says quality. This is another oxymoron perpetuated by the hand tool brigade.

Unless the spacing and sizing of the dovetails are exactly right (which very few seems to want to or be able to do) IMO the dovetails look amateurish and not worthy of admiration.


Peter.

A woodworker came to a club showing and derided my jig made dovetails and then asked why I use a handplane to joint my timber when a jointer is so easy.
To each thier own.

With Dovetail Jigs you have 3 choices, Gifkins, Leigh and Woodrat. (Eurojig as well)

The cost of all of the Gifkins is the same as the cost of a Leigh D4R with extra bits which is the same as the cost of Woodrat, so pricing is not an issue.
The advantages of the gifkins is scaleability (sp?), you can buy one or two templates and build on them. It is also very easy to use, probably the easist of all jigs.
Disadvantage is you are locked into doing through dovetails only at set widths ( timber to match jig spacings), and limited very much in width.
The Leigh is harder to learn, but will also do sliding and half blinds, all with variable spacing.
Disadvantage for some that are not comfortable with handheld router use is controlling router, if you are comfortable with handheld routing, you know that barely more than half the router base is used all the time.
Extras like through mortice and tenon, finger joints and the isoloc templates cost a bomb.

Not familiar with Woodrat, but many owners love them, some owners give up and re-sell them. Someone will tell you its advantages and disadvantages.

Tearout is a problem with all jigs (including the Gifkins), sharp bits and good technique overcome this. (Proper use of backing boards not withstanding)

So as suggested look at what you want to build and where you want to head in the future. Darksiding may be where you want to head or larger projects may be your aim or simply wish to stay in box making.

Duty of disclosure: Used a Gifkins for sometime before buying a Leigh 1600 and a Leigh D4, also own a Chinese Generic POC that I cannot get quite right.

Originally Posted by Sturdee

I may be a philistine but I disagree that hand cut dovetails automatically says quality. This is another oxymoron perpetuated by the hand tool brigade.

Unless the spacing and sizing of the dovetails are exactly right (which very few seems to want to or be able to do) IMO the dovetails look amateurish and not worthy of admiration.


Peter.

Hand cut dovetails don't automatically mean quality. I should have said that well done hand-cut dovetails indicate quality.
Like most things, it takes time to learn to do them properly, but it also takes time to learn to use a jig to full advantage. The time can be reduced if you can find a good teacher.
All that said, I believe that if you are going to use a jig, the Gifkins is one of the best.

extracted from Gifkins Full Instruction Manual (Page 11) -

"Variable Spacing Upgrade (VSU). Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to cut variable spaced dovetails using a fixed space template. This technique is an adaptation of the Split box idea (Note 29 above) and was suggested by David Charlsworth (Devon, England). With this method, you can adjust the template to fit the wood – rather than the other way around! It also gives a joint that looks more like a hand cut dovetail."

This comes in handy to allow for saw kerf when sawing through tails to cut the top from the bottom of the box and maintain equal pin spacing.

I was little hard on the Gifkins and variable spacing, you can, with the use of spacers, make some degree of variable spacing, but it still is not infinitly variable as the Leighs are.

One limitation of the Leigh Jigs I didn't mention is the case of very small boxes, boxes less than 65mm high are hard to do, the Gifkin excels in this area.