Two days on a twist bit jig I could have bought for $12

I spent two full evenings trying to freehand a twisted handle on a bottle opener, using my bench grinder. Three attempts came out crooked or too thin, and I nearly chucked the whole thing across the shop. Then a buddy from a demo in Eugene pointed out a cheap drill bit jig design that took me twenty minutes to build. Is it worth making your own jigs for one-off jobs, or do you guys just buy the tool and move on?

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hayden72016d ago

Heard a guy on a woodworking podcast say that jigs are basically just time-saving mistakes you learn to build, so I get the struggle. For a one-off job, I usually buy the cheap tool and move on, but if it's something I might use again later, making it is half the fun, lol. That said, three twisted handles sounds like your grinder setup was fighting you, not the jig. Building your own for $12 in scrap is a win if you've got the spare time, but honestly, my Saturdays are too short for that kind of patience anymore. Probably would've just ordered the jig and used the saved two hours to actually make the thing look good.