Dovetail jig vs hand cutting finally clicked for me

I watched a guy at a trade show near Detroit cut a full drawer box by hand in 11 minutes flat and it hit me that my fancy Leigh jig setup is actually slower. Has anyone else ditched the jigs and gone back to hand cutting?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_fox1mo ago

Skip the setup time and just cut wood already.

aaron_ellis421mo ago

Hear me out though, I think skipping setup is how you end up with a wobbly mess that takes twice as long to fix later. Taking those few extra minutes to square up the fence or check the blade alignment saves me from having to re-cut half the pieces on a project. Sure, it feels slow when you're itching to make sawdust, but I've learned that rushing the prep just means I'll be cussing at the tool bench later. A little patience at the start makes the whole cut go smoother, if you ask me.