Step By Step Guide – 80% Arms Easy Jig 3 Gen Assembly

There are many reasons why someone would want to build their own AR-15. But if you’re reading this, you already have a good reason. This article is meant to be a step-by-step guide in the assembly of the Easy Jig Gen 3 Multi-Platform – AR-15, AR-9 and .308 80% Lower Jig. This guide will walk you through assembling the jig and the guiding plate for the router. This guide will be heavy in pics. You can click on any pic to enlarge it. If you are looking for the actual milling of the 80% arms lower, that will be coming out in part 2.

Before I start, I’m a noob. I made a noob mistake. It didn’t harm anything on the jig, it just cost me a little bit of time. I followed the video by 80% Arms that can be found at the bottom of this article. You’ll see what I mean when we get there. Hopefully, this step-by-step guide will help anyone else who is also looking at the video. But if I can do this, anyone can!

I received three boxes, the 80% lower, the jig assembly and the router. All the boxes came well packed.

You are going to use these screws for most of the jig plate assembly. This makes it easy to separate which screws are going to be used for what.

Take the two side walls and make sure the big holes on the plates are facing you. Place the top plate on the top and align the screw holes.

Next, attach the front takedown pin block. You will notice two holes where this fits in at the bottom. It was easier for me to look at it right side up and align the screw holes to make sure the pins were in the holes. Then use two of the same type of screws shown above to securely attach it to the jig plate.

80% Arms Fool-Proof – Noob Proof!

On the other side of the jig plate, you are going to “loosely” attach the buffer screw support. Warning, noob alert! This is where I “screwed” up.

The buffer screw support slips in under the jig plate and attaches to the inside holes. Because the video said to “loosely” attach the support, I didn’t tighten down the screws. My mistakes was using the wrong screws. The screws in the pics are actually used on the router plate (more down below). I was following along with the video and the video showed silver screws. The mistake cost me time as I continued on to the next two steps and realized I couldn’t tighten the silver screws on the support when it was time to. These are the screws that I should have used!

Yes, after my mistake, I started reading the directions. Well, sort of.

Next it was time to attach the lower. I can tell you that as I connected the lower to the front takedown pin block and the buffer screw support, that it was a little exciting realizing how this was all shaping up.

The pin easily slide in with a little wiggling. Notice that there is a little lip on the buffer screw support where the lower sits on. After the lower is flush with the support, you can tighten down the buffer screw support.

When the lower is secure (the correct screws are tightened) ;-), screw in the buffer screw. After you hand tighten it, you can use the provided allen wrench to tighten it up.

There is one more piece to attach on the jig plate before moving to the router plate. Attach the drill block to the top of the jig plate. This will be used to make your pilot hole when you start milling your lower. You will use the same screws that you used to secure the jig plate to the blocks. At this point, it’s time to move to the 80% arms router plate.

One Plate Down – One to Go!

Next up, I moved to the router to prepare it for the milling process. I started by removing the router plate that came with the router. I then removed the side thumb screw and attached the side block adapter. Notice that the side with the screw hole is facing up and the opening in the block is facing in towards the router.

Next grab the router adapter plate and three screws and loosely attach the adapter plate to the router base. The screws and plate that you will use might vary according to the router you choose to use.

After attaching the router plate, you will remove the router base to install the speedmill. This sucker is sharp, so it is a good idea to keep the plastic tip covering on. After removing the bolt that came with the router, I screwed on the speedmill and tightened it down with a wrench.

After reattaching the base, tighten down the screws on the router base plate. You might need to wiggle the plate a little to get it to fit over the base of the speedmill.

Next up, set the small guide pins in the holes provided at the top of the router plate. Use the screws and allen wrench, yes those that I used incorrectly above. You will trade out the small guide pins for the medium and then larger pins during the milling process.

At this point, you are ready to start milling.

80% … 100% Ready to Mill

Other than using the wrong screws when I attached the buffer screw support, the process of assembling the Easy Gen 3 Jig and Router plate was easy. 80% Arms has put together a pretty fool-proof (ok, ok I had that small set back) starter-kit for anyone who wants to celebrate their 2nd Amendment right and build their own AR-15 from the ground-up. They also have 80% lowers and jigs for AR-10’s and .308’s, AR-9’s. However, you could just purchase the Easy Jig Gen 3 Multi-Platform if you see yourself building multiple firearms. And if you are looking for a pistol, they have 80% Glocks and Glock jigs too! For more information, checkout their website – 80 Percent Arms.

Peace,
Todd