Side by Side Comparison of: Rockler vs Delta

Hubby loves his birthday gift! Just what he wanted and exactly as stated by the manufacturer.

Absolutely a top quality tool in every respect.

great jig for the money!!Glad I bought this instead of the many others I looked at.works great on both brand saws I use.

This is a very heavy jig and good quality of workmanship; however, the instructions have much to be desired. Go to the Rockler site and print the instructions and technical bulletin. I just got my jig around 2 weeks ago, and the instructions are different than the Rockler site. Printing from their site will get you the same part numbers from the bulletin as well. The instructions that came with my unit made little sense after the 6th or 7th step. I needed to switch the miter rail to the outside slot to accomodate my Delta X5 unisaw, but this was easy. After following the revised tech bulletin everything went fine. I have virtually no play in my miter slot, and it slides smoothly. Very happy with this purchase.

This jig works great. Easy to set up and to use. Very strong and well built.

It's just what I needed to make some parts for toys I build.

Item as described. Good quality and good price

It is all that I expected. Having read posted reviews before purchasing helped set my expectations. Minor fit problems when attatching parts but this was easily corrected. Feels solid and rides nicely in the miter gauge slot. Only used it a couple of times so far but worked great. Made me feel a whole lot safer when running the stock through the saw. If nothing else making saw use safer is worth 5 stars.

I bought this tool because it was a Top Tool in a Wood Magazine review and I have not been disappointed. This was my first project with mortis and tenon joints and this jig made them easy. I would buy it again.Assembly and set up are not trivial, however. The unpainted machined surfaces come coated with a preservative. The manual says to remove it with a rag moistened with kerosene. There is no way that would work. I cleaned it outside where I could flood it with kerosene and then wipe it off. The preservative is everywhere; the base comes partially assembled, but I had to disassemble it to get at all the preservative.A couple of other reviews say that the jig did not fit their saw; one talks about the washers on the miter bar. The miter bar comes with washers mounted on the ends of the miter bar to fit "T" slot miter slots. The manual says to remove these washers if your saw does not have a "T" slot. My saw has a "T" slot, but the jig still would not fit. The space between the washer and the miter bar is too small to fit so I removed the washers (no grinding involved as mentioned in the other review, just a screw through each washer). It should be possible to shim the washers to fit but I did not bother.The miter bar is adjusted to fit your slot by turning three set screws. These screws have a spot of thread lock on them so they do not move after adjustment, but this also makes them hard to adjust. Two of the three did turn although they were tight. The third would not hardly move. The end of the included hex key wrench rounded before it would turn. I ground the wrench flat on the end and finally got the screw to move. Other reviews talk about poor quality screws; I did not see that; the wrench rounded over before the hex socket in the screw failed.The backstop is hard to adjust to a right angle with the table. Setting it is easy, but tightening the lock knob (lever) causes it to move.Using the jig is a breeze. The continuously adjustable clamp arm makes it easy to tightly clamp just about any size stock. The fine adjustment of the cut location is really fine, a full turn for 1/16" movement, however, there is a lot of backlash in this adjustment, probably 1/2 turn.I like the position of the two handles, fore and aft; they seem perfectly positioned to make the cut.One other review talked about problems after 50-60 tenons; I have only made 12, so something may go wrong later. So far I am satisfied.

I recently purchased a new Delta Unisaw and wanted a tenoning jig to go with the table saw. I was unable to find a Delta jig in the UK but I was able to purchase one through Amazon.com.The postage was a bit expensive but it did have to come from the USA to the UK.The tenoning jig is very resonably priced and is a high quality jig. The first tenons I made using the jig are great and I am pleased I purchased this jig. So far I can find no fault with this jig and would recommend it.

I bought this jig to replace a homemade jig that I have been using. Out of the box the tool looked to be top quality. During assembly and setup I encoutered a couple of problems. First, during conversion to a left tilting arbor I found that the metric "Button Head Screws" that attach the miter guide to the base were made of soft inferior quality metal. I had to cut the screws out and replace with quality screws. Second, the rear adjustment for eliminating side-to-side play (slop) in the miter guide would not eliminate the side to side movement in the miter guide. This adjustment device also had to abe replaced. On the bright side, the jig works beautifully for cutting accurate tenons.Bobby ParrisEngineer turned Woodworker

Since I purchased the Leigh Mortise and Tennon jig I don't use this anymore.

This is a solid jig and I'm sure it will serve me well.A cautionary note: Make SURE you deburr the base before you put this down on your table saw. I made the mistake of not doing so and have a couple of gouges in the table saw top now.The alignment process calls for aligning the face of the jig parallel to the saw blade by sliding the jig face forward until it touches the saw blade (or alignment blank if you have one). There are two things the instructions do not tell you as it relates at least to the Bosch:1: You have to reposition the guide rail to it's outermost slot or it won't get anywhere close to the blade.2: Even after doing that, you can only get to within a 16th or so of the blade - You have to eyeball the gap from there. This could be easily resolved at the factory by opening the clamp slot just that 1/16th more. The upside of this is that it would be impossible (without going to some extra effort anyway) to hit the jig with the blade.Another general cautionary note: When using the slide positioning screw it is possible to kick the jig face out of alignment if you torque it too much after you've hit the stop. It will be obvious to you the first time you do it.Overall - Nice jig. A couple of tweaks to the design at the factory and it could be a great jig. It would be nice if the factory put a finer grind and deburred the base before shipping.

Shipped and received promptly. No real opportunity to put it in service. It does appear to be well made. It's cast iron. I will be checking it further as soon as the table saw is again up and running.

Good product. A little difficult too set up. Touchy adjustments.

This Delta Tenoning Jig is a great boon to making neat and accurate tenons. For the price, it would be difficult to find one better!The service I received from Amazon was as usual brilliant! Keep up the good work Guys!

My first attempt to use the Delta 34-184 tenoning jig, after I had cleaned all the preservative off and assembled it, were less then awe-inspiring. While not complicated this jig has a slight learning curve and every time I use it, the results get more predictable and more accurate. Previously, I cut all tenons either by hand or using the bandsaw or the dado blade on my table saw. But with a little practice, I think this jig will be the go to method for tenons, as well as lap and bridal joints. If you use a lot of mortise and tenon joints, as I do, then this jig is well worth your time and money.

As most will attest, the tool comes set for a right tilt saw. This seems strange since most saws are now left tilt. This operation requires you to remove the guide and adjuster and relocate the guide to another set of pre-drilled holes. When I re-assembled the tool, I could not square it to the table. The holes were drilled out of allignment in the base! It is beyond me how that happens. If the tool is built using a CNC machine, it should be impossible. Delta must be using low skilled laborers to manually drill the holes, that's the only way it could happen. (What was the quality inspector doing when this mistake went by.) So, off to my drill press to open up the hole. What's up with the paint? Even after I got the packing grease off, the paint was not the same color. Even on the same part. Minor gripe, but it goes towards quality.Operation: The design is excellent. Having two handles on the tool promotes safe operation. The clamp bar allows adjustment front to back so clamping pressure can be placed exactly where you want it. Use an accurate square when setting up your cuts just to be sure.I believe this tool is the best in class, but the fit and finish could be better. I own several Delta tools - DJ-20 jointer, variable speed grinder, protable bench jointer, 12 1/2" portable planer. I hope Delta gets their act together and focuses on quality. They need to get back to their former glory.

This machine works as advertised. It cuts clean concise tenons that are 100% repeatable. It is massive and just plows the material through the saw blade.Set up took a while but that was me being overly careful. Great tool.This is the better of the two you can get from Delta. My review of the other jig was meant to be for this one. The other is lower priced but not nearly as accurate as this one.Sorry for the mix up!

Very seldom use it after the purchase, found out that you can keep your cash and purchase something more useful.

So, this thing is built like a tank, that's at least one positive. Some minor problems though. First, the directions on how to align this thing are messed up. Part of the directions about aligning the backing plate to your blade (making it parallel to the blade) are wrong! Hard to explain without going into too much detail, but when you push the backing plate next to your blade to check alignment you CANNOT reach the adjustment screws that are used to adjust the parallel alignment. The directions do not indicate that, instead, you will need to put a straight edge or something like a level between the backer and your blade and THEN you will be able to reach the alignment screws. Second, the little red distance indicator clearly indicates that this might not have been made in the U.S. the threads on the set screw for the indicator are too low inside the set screw hole. Making it impossible for it to get any grip at all when the indicator is in the hole. Some doofus at the factory solved this problem by inserting the set screw into the hole sideways and jamming it in there (not using the threads). Tried to flatten the end of the indicator that goes into the hole, but I would have to make it paper thing to get the set screw to grab threads. Pretty much threw away the indicator - useless. So, all this being said.....here's the conclusion....made like a tank, works well once you get it set up, but MAKE YOUR OWN! Don't use the alignment indicators on this unit, MEASURE YOURSELF EACH TIME. Overall, I would not buy again, I would make my own. I was just lazy.

Having purchased Delta products in the past, I expected much better than I got. The casting was crude and the machining was sloppy.I had to take a file to the base plate and retap one of the screw holes which had a tear out problem. I sent photos to their support group and never heard a word from them. I won't buy another Delta product whithout closely examining it first.

I purchased this jig because Wood Magazine rated it tops and it was on sale at Amazon. It arrived as promised, well packed and in good shape. This thing is a tank, it weights a ton and the workmanship is better than what I have come to expect from the typical made in China product. I cleaned everything, using WD40 and assembled it in about 20 minutes. I did not need the washers that are supplied on the miter bar for use with saws that have T-slots. I removed them. The first thing I found was that it will not fit the older, or for all I know, the newer, Craftsman table saws. The older saws had a miter slot that was about .007 inch less than the standard .750 inch slot. I removed the miter bar and with about 10 minutes work on a belt sander had it fitting perfectly. Once in the miter slot the base had no wobble and sat rock solid on the table. The issue noted with the miter bar adjustment screws did not concern me.This jig is designed to be used on the left side of the blade and I prefer to cut with it on the right side. As shipped the base will hit the blade. There is a second set of holes for the miter bar that will move it out. However, the thickness of the stock will be limited. I wish that they had added a third set of miter bar mounting holes to allow for thicker stock. Another problem using the jig on the right side is that the face plate is very close to the base. When the stock has to be clamped above the base plate you can not set the blade height by referencing the table, you must reference from a spacer that is thicker than the base. I can't hold this against Delta as they planned for it for use on the left side. But a bit more thought by the designer could have eliminated this problem.Squaring the jig to the blade was not a big problem. Adjusting the thickness of the cut should be simple, just loosen the clamp, set the depth, tighten the clamp and you should be good to go. The problem is that if the clamp is loose enough to slide the base the face plate will tilt, slightly. This makes a precise setting difficult. This is the main reason that I only give it three stars.Once it is setup, the jig is easy to use and cuts great. This being said you can get the same results from the Grizzly jig for less money. This thing is a far cry from a five star tool, however I personally like Delta tools and with the price I paid overall, I am satisfied.

Unfortunately, this otherwise well-made jig is not square. The miter guide bar is not square to the base plate — it's off by 1/32" from from to back. Rockler sent me a replacement and it had the same issue. Apparently an older model allowed small adjustments to be made to the guide bar (I'm guessing from their instructions) that can't now be done. If you choose to buy this anyway, be sure to go to their web site to download the updated instructions and technical bulletin — the ones enclosed with the product are confusing.

This jig is heavy duty, but watch for two things:1. The 3/4" bar running through the track on your table saw doesn't fit tight, it wiggles a good bit, but that can be remedied with some effort.2. The allen screw directly underneath the knob that tightens the horizontal travel wiggles loose so easily and will then score the surface of your table saw. Hit it with some thread lock early on.No excuse really, for either of these issues other than poor design. But then again, they can be remedied. But from a company like Rockler, you wouldn't think that'd be necessary.

Casting does NOT run parallel to saw blade. Found the tabs that connect the vertical plate to the horizontal plate are different lengths, making it impossible to run parallel. I had to elongate the screw holes ( making a slot ) in order to use the tool. Very disappointed...

Came with one part out of place.

The box was all damaged but the stuff inside seemed OK.Upon closer examination of the jig, which seemed somewhat assembled already, many of the hex bolts/washers were missing. This was not a huge deal but I did have to go get some replacements.So 2x stars for super damaged box and missing components, but looking forward to many years of using this jig.

Kind of clunky

I bought this after using the older model and was very disappointed in the quality of the castings and the hardware. The old one, which is still available at a lower price, is a better made piece of equipment. The "deluxe" version is sloppier in its movements and reminds me of the junk we used to see out of China several years ago. Of course the simple operations required of this jig may not require it to be sophisticated but its still disapointing. I sent it back and bought the cheaper one from Delta which works great and I like the handle placement better.

Two problems. First, and not a deal killer, the miter slot bar needed to be switched to fit my table saw. Unfortunately, one of the two hex head screws stripped out with a hex wrench. Now I need to get a machinist to drill it out. That's awfully soft metal for the application. Second, and this is a deal killer, the bottom is very warped, rocking 34/1000" on two corners. Completely unusable. I may find a shop that will grind it down, but I'll probably just return it and make my own jig.

I bought this jig last Spring when I still had my old contractor table saw. The instructions, as noted by others, are a disaster -- even with the technical bulletin available online that tries to explain what's wrong with the original instructions. Reminding me of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," -- "The producer who produced these titles has been sacked.")But there was one paragraph in the technical bulletin that delighted me: it explained that it is no longer necessary to align the jig parallel to the blade because the jig is now pre-cast in one piece. I was delighted because I did not have to make this difficult adjustment and because I was instead able to use the jig to align my blade. I lined the jig up against the blade, noticed that the blade was not square to the jig, and adjusted the blade. I went on to make the tenons I needed for my project and put the jig aside.During the Summer, I made a major upgrade by purchasing a SawStop professional model with the biesemeyer fence, and I also purchased a gauge to align the blade and fence. When I had it adjusted per instructions, I discovered that the Rockler tenoning jig was out of alignment. I found the instuctions, couldn't made sense of them, went online and "rediscovered" the technical bulletin. I re-learned that the jig no longer can be adjusted to square it to the fence. As such, the jig is useless, and I returned it for credit.They offered to send me another one, but I declined. It is possible that another casting would have had a better alignment, but that only would emphasize that the quality control for the product is zero.The problem with all the cheap (and not so cheap) junk being manufactured in China is just that: it is cheap because corners are cut out-of-sight in a foreign country. The tool may look sturdy, but it will turn out the hinges are weak, or the set screws strip, or the cat food will contain poison, or this, or that. This is not to say that if the product says "Made in USA" that it will necessarily be perfect. Anyone can make a shoddy product.But when an American company contracts with an outfit in China to manufacture something to some specification, one predictable result is going to be instructions written in Chinese and poorly translated into English that nobody at the American company bothers to proof-read. The other predictable result is that the contracting American company simply assumes that the specifications are being followed in China.

This is a disappointing product. It is imprecisely machined and suffers from sloppy construction. It is not parallel to the table saw blade despite full adjustment and reassembly. I am returning it and buying the product from Grizzly.

First go at it and a weld broke already. Replacement was sent. We will see how long that last. I like the micro adjust but if parts are going to just snap, this is a huge safety concern for me.

My jig arrived packed in grease (I get it, but it is still annoying. I live in the pacific northwest. If its going to rust in shipping, its probably going to rust in the winter unless I heat my shop to 60 degrees all the time.)After assembly, I realized that Delta had machined the holes off of parallel and that I would need to re-manufacture the base plate to get it to run parallel with the blade. Otherwise all of my tenons would be off by a 1/32 to 1/16 depending on the width of the tenon. Not that big of a deal unless you wanted a jig to help you with accuracy. :)I also had issues with tightening down the screws on the jig. They were not very strong and one partially stripped out. I do not tighten things excessively tight as a rule, and I was not in this case either. Just poor quality or undersized screws.My table saw, a Grizzly G0691 Left tilt, has a T-slot 6 inches from the blade. This jig does not reach to 6 inches, leaving the measuring gauge useful only in relative measures (ie. if I add 1/4" to each value then it is accurate.)So disappointed in manufacturing, disappointed in adaptability, and disappointed in the screws that it was made from. Replaced it with a Grizzly tenoning jig. The Grizzly took a couple of days to get here, but it assembled and worked (except it has the same issue with measures.) Amazon did a great job with the return as always.

Junk- I could have got the same quality from Harbor Freight for $15 bucks. It wont align square to my table saw blade which is the main point of having this thing. I've had to run a shim along the face of support face to make it square. I also had to add some washers here and there to make the handles tighten up.The instruction manual is a joke as it will reference a photo while skipping the one before it and than go back to the one it missed later in the instructions. What in the hell happened to Delta?

I own a DELTA table saw and figured this would be a great pair-up for it. I ordered the jig and due to life reasons, its sat around sadly now beyond the return window, if that were not the case I can guarantee that I would be pursuing a return at this point. I am simply not able to get this jig squared up correctly. Very disappointed in the quality of this item, and I will likely stay away from future products because of this and some other issues with my table saw that have required serious modification and much frustration to resolve. I am not naïve enough to think that a tool would require NO setup, but there is no excuse for major misalignment and careless assembly...

Had to return it. No quality at all.