tl;dr: Easy Jig Gen 2 works as advertised and makes cool guns.

I'd like to start by saying I hope someone can learn from my "experience" from milling an 80% lower for the first time.

I went a little bat shit on ordering lowers and equipment due to an unexpectedly high tax return. After reading different comparison charts for lowers and jigs on 80percents.com and other sites and researching the equipment on my own,  I decided to plunge in with both feet. It came down to the latest 5D Tactical jig and the Easy Jig Gen 2, because I wanted to go the router route and they were about the same price with milling a 9mm and 308 receiver. But before I pulled the trigger on the jig, I had to decide which router. It came down to the Dewalt 611 and the Makita. I chose the Makita because it has a larger range of adjustment for speeds, and while just the router was the same price for both brands, the Makita combo was only $20 more for the plunger and a couple other accessories. For the 5D, it's important to know which router you're using because you have to order a particular bit for the brand you select. I tried to order the 5D, but of course they were out of stock. I got tired of waiting after a week and called the other company. Customer service wasn't good because when I asked them a question the response was check the website, so I went back to the reviews on which on people liked more. The easy jig won and was in stock at a vendor that I frequently buy things from, so I decided to order one.



When it arrived, I was a little shocked how heavy it was. I saw the YouTube videos about it but I was still surprised with the weight. The quick guide was almost good enough for getting it put together, but I did have to break out the actual manual to get a detail or two. I believe a step or two could be added to the quick guide, but at what point does it just turn into the manual?





I forgot to mention which receiver I started with. I ordered a 308 (7075) and a 9mm (6061). Even though I read that you wanted to work your way up from easiest material to work with to 7075. Since I'm stubborn AF, I decided to start with the 7075. This was a bad decision for 1 reason: it took entirely too effing long to mill and my impatience almost broke the end mill.

Anyways, I got the 7075 lower set up in the jig and it was off to the drill press (12 speed HF). I drilled the initial hole and I was ready to use the router.



The first pass let me know how long and arduous the milling process was going to be. I couldn't even adjust the router to the half hash mark, so after the second pass I stopped using the hash guide. When I moved the end mill in the router, it was barely enough to catch the next layer of material.



Oh, and after seeing the YT video, I Jerry rigged a vacuum hose to the receiver extension with masking tape. Worked like a charm. Aluminum chips still went everywhere, but not as many of them.



After I finally got the pockets milled out and the side holes drilled, I was finally was able to put it together. The whole process took 3 days. I went REALLY slow because I didn't want to break the bit because I only ordered one. I used WD40 gel lubricant because that's what I had on hand and it worked perfectly. I later bought cutting oil but the gel worked better because it didn't keep draining through the initial hole through the receiver.



I did have minor fitment issues with the safety switch (probably due to the HF drill press not being perfectly perpendicular with the plane), but after moving it around  a few thousand times, pulling it out, wiping off the gunk, re-oiling it, and moving it a few more thousand times, and repeating the process a dozen times, it finally loosened up enough for me to comfortably maneuver it with a thumb instead of a wrench. Everything else fit fine. Tossed the complete DPMS (Oracle?) upper on top, took it to the range, and broke it in per the DPMS instructions. Not a single hiccup.



The 6061 almost seemed like a cake walk compared to the 7075. The end mill cut it like butter. Super easy. Same issue as above with the safety switch, but after repeating the above process a dozen times, it loosened up nicely. The 9mm will be my new USPSA PCC rig. My current SBR'd rig uses a Geissele Trigger and colt mags so this will be an interesting change to a side charger with glock mags and a hyperfire trigger. When I took it to the range, same results with no failures.



Questions?

I also bought the 80% arms jig as the 5d everyone recommends was out of stock at the time. I'll say I've been super pleased with it so far. It's done 6 m4 and 3 308 lowers, 5 of the m4 were 7075. Just for my own curiosity I'd like to try the 5D jig to see what's better or done differently as I've found no real issues with this one yet.

I don't know the end mill life expectancy but I've gotten 4-5 lowers out of one bit so far, that's with constantly lubing with thread cutting oil.

Your vac hose looks similar to the one I have, try removing that smooth plastic end piece from the hose and it should fit right on the attachment with just the corrugated hose.

Making these 80% I've found is a new addiction, wish I'd have gotten into it earlier.

Thanks for the tip. I have another AR9 lower that I'll be cutting up this week and will give your trick a try.