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“There is a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore looking like an idiot.” –Steven Wright
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Wow. Been awhile since I visited this totally awesome and worthless blog. Guess that means I have been either busy, or out of the office. Or both.
Actually, we have been making back-end modifications to our website and all is not well–what a hassle. But we are getting close. If you have ordered from us in the last month or so, PLEASE double check your credit card statement to ensure you received your Founder’s Circle discount and that the billing is correct. You cannot believe how complicated online ordering is with all the new security requirements (which I am supportive from both a consumer side and as your tool potentate).
And for those of you who received duplicate shipments and called to inform us, THANK YOU for your honesty. There really is no way to find the bugs in a major overhaul like we are doing without going live at some point.
As soon as we gather our costs, we will be releasing for pre-order an offset attachment for the DJ-1 Drilling Jig. This little gizmo will allow you to precisely offset holes from the center-line of your stock. It is fast!
Prior to this attachment there were only two ways to offset holes, use shims on one side or remove one outrigger. This is way faster, has a built in scale (imperial or metric) and easily attaches with the orange universal jaws in place.
When these are done, we will do a video using this device to make a cribbage board with the DJ-1 and a hand drill. It will look like it was done on a CNC. The DJ-1 nickname should be “Drill press in a drawer”. I love the accuracy of this tool.
Here are a couple of pics;
FYI: Minimum offset from the center-line is .250″.
We released for pre-order the AS-24v3 yesterday. As mentioned earlier, we are only making 250 and this will use up our existing supply of blades. There are about 80 remaining as of this writing and I suspect all will be gone by the weekend. If you are tempted by this cool tool, time is running out. We likely won’t make the next batch until 2014.
In two weeks I head back to the Marc Adams School of Woodworking–not to teach a class but to be a student again. I cannot wait to see what is up the sleeve of my instructor Jeff Scanlan. Did I mention he is a world class magician? Should be really fun.
Maybe I should hire him to magically expedite the changes to our website…
–John
John,
This is awesome, I’ve been wanting this attachment for a long time.
Looking at the picture, it shows the attachment pressing against the stock directly; will you be able to mount the orange jaw to it to take advantage of the different holding grooves of the jaw? On the same note; can the accessory plate be attached to it also?
Thanks,
Rutager
Great to know you’re still alive, John. Bummer about your web site – hopefully it will all sort itself out, without too much trauma.
I love the offset attachment for the DJ-1. I was using my mortise and tenon attachment on the CS-2 last night, and marveling again at how clever it is. This is definitely in the same vein. I was thinking that if you put a v-notch in it, you could use it to drill a series of holes at a constant distance from the center of a dowel or rod. But perhaps there’s already an easy way to do that?
I hope you have a great time at the Marc Adams school. You deserve a break – it’s been a busy year!
— Peter
Econ,
This is perfect. Much like Rutager, I also have been dying to have an attachment like this. However, I am glad that you waited to bring it out after I am almost finished with my bench. You know the bench where I could have used this attachment 25 times!!!!!!! 😮 😮
Fred
I bought some batteries, but they weren’t included.
Steven Wright
Rutager-
As you know, the orange jaws index to the outriggers via two index pins. There are two identical index holes in the offset plate so yes, you can remove one of the orange jaws and mount to the other side of the offset plate.
We have no plans on doing anything to the offset jaw face other than the two index holes.
–John
@Peter; Thanks.
@Fred; This attachment will be in your hands just in time for your Entertainment Center project…
John,
I’m sure the instructor for your class will be top-notch, but there’s no way he’ll be as cool as the instructor that I had for my class at Marc Adams!
If I follow your response correctly, it sounds like there won’t be threaded holes to secure the jaws, just index pins? with threaded holes, it could also hold the universal jaws nicely too, right? That would be sweet.
I didn’t receive duplicates of anything that I hadn’t ordered, but Michael has been giving me twice as much cr*p- I tried to return it, but he wouldn’t take it.
Best,
Rutager
Rutager-
I would not put the Universal Jaws on this attachment–it is cantilevered and too spongy.
–John
Econ,
That sounds perfect. Right now my planning calendar shows the EC being rebuilt in 2017. So, the attachment will be ready by then? 😮 Seriously, do you have an idea as to when this piece may actually be ready to ship? I think this may be one of your greatest attachments. A little thing but with big ramifications.
Fred
Nice John. This makes me glad I’ve been lazy with an add-on project. I’ve got to drill drawer pull mounting holes on lots of drawers. I’ve been planning to make and attach a lateral positioning stop so I can just “plop” the drilling jig on each drawer in turn once I set the lateral positon. Looks like easier options to mount an attachment on this attachment.
John
We hope to open the pre-order window the middle of next week. They should all be done in Sept depending on the volume. I need one on mine too for a project I am working on for WIA.
Best-
John
John,
What a wonderful addition to the Dj-1 offerings!
hmmm,
so,
Is this attachment a convoluted sneak peak at the rip saw aid for the JMP as well?
opps,
Did I bring up a taboo subject?
😉
cheers,
roger
John: At the risk of pulling a savattieri (it’s a noun; look it up), may I ask if it would be possible to make the same tool index from the edge of the board rather than the center? “It slices, it dices, it cuts Julienne fries!”
If Fred still has that entertainment center in his house next summer, I’m driving to PA and destroying it myself- reminder to self, bring steaks to keep the dogs at bay.
-Rutager
Nice, nice. I also like the mortise offset on the CS-2. What do you think is the best way to clamp the DJ-1 to your piece while using this attachment?
John,
hmmm, question:
If one has a piece of work that is in the DJ-1 that is thinner than the height of the new jig – than the weight of the DJ-1 and the downward pressure of the drilling would all come to rest on the two little thumbscrews that adjust the jig.
So,
Are we going to get little feet that extend beyond the thumbscrews for such a happenstance?
cheers,
roger
Hmmm # 2
Taking that “feet” issue a little further,
there “might” have to be an option perhaps to implant feet on the side opposite the new jig.
For when using material that is thinner than the height the whole jig would be a little wobbly.
Yes you could fit the whole thing into a table vise, but when you can’t?
And little “silicone sticky droplet feet” are two short to make up for the thumbscrew protrusion…
John,
Roger has brought up some good points, as always, and got me thinking of another; with the attachment on, you can’t clamp it in a vise and there might not be enough space for a clamp between the attachment and the outrigger. So maybe putting an “ear” on each side of the attachment for a place to clamp and bring it down low enough to act as feet, to solve the issue that Roger brought up. Same set of ears and feet could be one the shim I emailed you about too.
Best,
Rutager
Rutager,
Well put.
Now you (we) did it.
John is going to be buried in his iPad not hearing a word of what is wife is telling him over dinner, until he works out these new issues.
All before he takes off to Marc Adams.
Tick-tock, tic- tock.
.
Ok,
The “clamping solution” with off-set jig was pestering me as I was trying to go to sleep last night.
So here are my thoughts,,,
The off-set jig needs to be on “top” of the curved element that holds the two tubular traverse rods.
Depending on how you work it – the angle down part of the new jaw base may have to have two cut outs (windows) that you would allow you to feed the tubular bars though. Yes, a little time consuming to swap it out, but Rutager, that would be a reason to have two DJ-1’s! (You have two don’t you?)
The other alternative is to have it “slot” over the rods, but I’m not so sure it would be as strong.
Also, with this approach the thumbscrews are on top, so the “feet” issue becomes a moot point.
.
cheers,
roger
OK, here goes…
@ David; Your question was definitely Savatterian. Now he is a Proper Adjective.
“Would it be possible to make the same tool index from the edge of the board rather than the center?”
The answer is a definitive no. The wider the board the further the jaws travel to move the DJ-1 bushings to an edge. In other words, the edge is a moving target that varies by board width, whereas the center-line is always…in the center.
The DJ-1 has a nose cursor–scribe a reference line and open the DJ-1 until the nose cursor hits the mark, slide the Offset jaw in and lock. Done.
@Roger- On thin stock you put scrap underneath–which is always a good practice to avoid tear out on the exit. So, no feet. Sorry.
@Matt; 99% of the drilling I do with the DJ-1 I simply lock the two arm screws. The jaws need just enough pressure on the stock to avoid the torque forces of the drill– often times I hold it tight by hand and drill with the other.
@Rutager;
I don’t suggest you go to Fred’s house–that Entertainment Center is like Kryptonite, you will be destroyed first after seeing it in person.
I am finalizing the design today–I have eliminated the minimum offset distance and we will cut the v grooves in the face so you don’t have to remove or reattach the orange jaws. I will have imagery on Monday.
As always, thanks for the feedback and ideas!
–John
John,
Sorry, but you missed one point,
that’s Rutager’s question about placing the Dj-1 with the new jig into the bench clamp.
Is that a nope?
.
Have a great weekend.
roger
Roger,
The “ear” idea has some merit–will look at it over the weekend.
John
John,
Ears would be great for clamps, although they wouldn’t change the ability to use the DJ-1 with attachment in a bench vise; something I do for the majority of my drilling. So I was thinking of a solution and came up with a multi-stepped wood block to put between the vise and tool- then I thought of an easier fix, and that is to just have you folks make a nice aluminum rectangle with triangle shaped bosses that fit in the outrigger holes; it would be a smidge longer than the attachment so it would fit between the vise jaw and the back of the outrigger- easy, worthwhile or just crazy?
Thanks,
Rutager
John,
Couple more thoughts and observations: a Jorgenson “F” clamp without rubber pads will fit between the attachment and outrigger, so ears might not be needed; looking at my first thought of triangle bosses, i concluded that it might be easier to eliminate them and put alignment pins that fit into the pre-drilled holes on the outrigger and put rare earth magnets in the aluminum block that are in line with the screws that hold the orange jaw on to keep the block from falling off as your’re placing the works in the vise- a three handed jod already on some tasks!
Best,
Rutager
John,
Scratch all of my ideas in their current form above; I was overlooking that putting pressure on the outrigger is bound to make the attachment slip or flex. I’ll keep thinking.
Best,
Rutager
John,
Let me know when your sick of me; another thought, if you designed it with a lead screw, like a plane but coarser, elimating the friction holding method, it could hold in a vise or clamps without losing the setting.
Thanks,
Rutager
Roger,
Yes, I do have two DJ-1s. I realized that some operations couldn’t be done with the universal jaws in place and I don’t like to mess around in the middle of projects, so I got a second to leave with the orange jaws on.
Best,
Rutager
Rutager,
Regarding two Dj-1’s,
My thoughts exactly!
Regarding the clamping solution,
I’m still going with my thoughts in entry 18.
Do you think John is feeling our nudging?
🙂
Best ,
Roger
Roger,
I think John has probably listed our email addresses as “spam” by now.
Putting the attachment on top will require a new outrigger design.
Best,
Rutager
Thanks John. I actually use the DJ-1 with a hand brace to drill out mortise holes, so all hands are spoken for. I’m sure I’ll find a way to put it to use.