Dovetail Jigs

[Steve Kohn]

I knocked a pattern off the wall and it landed on my old fixed pin AMT 12 inch dovetail jig. The jig didn't do well, the company that sold it is long out of business so now I am looking for a replacement DT jig with better capabilities.

I have looked at Leigh, PC, and Akeda. All have various models and some look complex enough that I am reluctant to spend hundreds of $$$ only to have to read the manual every time I want to make a drawer. So I am coming to this esteemed forum for some opinions.

I am a hobbiest woodworker of average experience. I would like to have variable pin and tail spacing, both through and half-blind dovetails capability, 24 inch capacity, and be able to joint both sides of the joint at the same time.

I know the Akeda is supposed to be pretty easy to set up, is semi-adjustable for spacing, and offers a 24 inch machine. However, after the fire I am not sure they are still in business.

My knowledge of Leigh is limited to watching Norm do the pins and tails as separate operations, including changing the router bits etc. I am not interested in that level of work and setup.

PC has their super series (42XX) and the omnijg. That is about the extent of my knowledge.

Can someone fill in the blanks?

[joseph j shields]

I have the 16" Akeda and love it....

You can buy it at:

http://www.thejigstore.com/

One thing to note about the new OmniJig... you are stuck with using only a single dovetail bit for half-bind dovetails (I think it is a 6 or a 12 degree dovetail bit...maybe some can help here) On the other hand, the Akeda allows you to use several different angled dovetail bits. For me, I like to use a little higher degree dovetail bit in some applications...

YMMV


-jj

[Jim Kountz]

The newer Leigh jigs can do both sides of a half blind at one time. I THINK. I have the older D4 and love it. I know it sounds like more work doing the tails and pins in two operations but its WAY better in the long run as you get better fitting joints and more spacing options. Besides the way the Leigh works its not that big of a deal and once you do a couple and get the hang of how it works you can breeze through them in no time.

[Calvin Crutchfield]

many of us have been down this road.

My advice is to pick the one that suits your fancy. Does what you need it to do and you can afford.

They all work and can work well. Pick one, and learn it and you will be happy.

My mistake was that i tried and bought them all, was so damn confused in the end my head spun. I use the simple PC omni for half blinds and learned to hand cut throughs.

[Ellen Lewis]

I have the Leigh 12" dovetail jig. I am a weekend hobby woodworker. While the jig may look complicated, it really is not. I got excellent results on my third try. The first 2 were stupid mistakes on my part. I recommend watching thewoodwhisperer.com tutorial on dovetails. He does an excellent job of walking you through the process. Yes, you can pour over the manual...but you can also use it pretty easily...it is very intuitive. Changing bits on the router can be avoided by using 2 routers. You also have a TON of flexibility with this unit.

[chet jamio]

For Leigh, only the super jigs can do half-blind in a single pass. However, you won't likely use this feature as it forces you to use fixed spacing. You must slide all the adjustable fingers tight together, effectively turning it into one of the many $100 fixed spaced jigs.

http://www.leighjigs.com/download/Comparison%20Chart-1.pdf

The omnijig can also do single pass half-blind, but it has the same fixed-spaced limitations.

http://www.deltaportercable.com/common/legacy/jigs/omni/Dovetail_Joints.pdf

Given the opportunity to have variable spaced dovetails, it's not worth the small time savings to sacrifice your design. Most people never use the fixed-space single-pass functionality of these jigs (super jig, omnijig). The D4R can't do single-pass, but you likely wouldn't miss it.

[Jim Eller]

Here is my take on DT jigs, http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=98823&highlight=dovetail in this thread.

Don't worry about the fire thing.

Jim

[Mike Null]

I had a Leigh D4 which was teriffic. I made fairly good dovetails in my first practive attempt and on the second they were pretty good.

I made a blanket chest for my neice with variable spaced and sized through dovetails that I was quite pleased with. Set up takes time.

I sold it a couple of years back as my woodworking has taken a back seat to other interests.