My old dowel jig finally gave up mid-project last Thursday

I was working on a set of kitchen cabinet doors in my garage and my ancient self-centering dowel jig just cracked right down the middle. It was an old Craftsman one I'd had since 2008, probably made a few thousand joints with it. Broke on the 12th hole of a 20-hole run, totally threw off my afternoon. Ended up clamping the pieces back together just to finish that one door, then ordered a new JessEm from Highland Woodworking. That old jig owed me nothing but man, I hated to see it go. Anyone else had a favorite tool just quit on them out of nowhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

logan2631mo ago

2008 is basically brand new in my book, I've got a Freud jig from the late 90s still going strong. Those old Craftsman ones were decent but they were never built to be workhorses long term anyway. Maybe it just ran its course and you got your money's worth out of it.

emma_smith1mo ago

Yeah @logan263 I have to agree with you there. I had one of those Craftsman jigs too and it lasted about 8 years before the threads stripped out on the adjustment knob. I picked up a used Porter Cable from a garage sale for 15 bucks and it's been running smooth for over a decade now. The thing is you can probably find a decent replacement for cheap if you just check the used market instead of buying new. Those old ones were fine for weekend projects but they weren't meant to hold up forever.