re: The Ultimate Dado Jig

Just to clarify, when I talk about the big boys, I’m talking about my two and a half horse, or over three horse routers.

Running a 1-3/4 hp Porter Cable with a D handle using just one hand is the similar, but less difficult than running a worm drive. Both can kick back, but, if you know what you’re doing and pay attention, your control stops things from getting out of control.

Were I to chose to fight one of my worm drives or a router with a pattern bit set for a 3/8"-1/2" dado, I’ll take the latter every time. The bit would have to be dull or cutting pretty deep to compare to the bit of a worm drive blade.

The smallest boards I dado are usually four foot long. A two footer is rare. The weight of the jig and the board (remember, you’re talking a two foot by two foot, or better, project) is significantly more stable than, for example, a small plaque resting on an anti-skid surface and being routered with a cove or other shaping bit.

I just wanted to add these thoughts so others didn’t get the erroneous impression this jig required as much effort to use as others. Of course, the user can add (a) clamp(s) to the project material, if that is their want, to secure the stock to some other item. This jig will still require less effort to use than others. The clamps built into the jig secure it to the work and the single front clamp is all you have to consider, when moving to the next cut.