Akeda or Leigh for dovetails

[Philip Johnson]

I see a dovetail jig in my future and have been reading all I can find on here about them. I want something easy to use, I am new to dovetails and did have a cheap jig years ago that I never did figure out, I guess that is what scares me spending money on a jig and not being able to figure it out.

With ease of use in mind the Akeda seems to stand out, is it all it says it is, from videos it sure seems simple enough. The only thought I have against Akeda is it seems to have a very limited sales outlet, so I assume a very small company. I am worried about how long they may be around if one should need parts or bits or extra guides.

The Leigh seems to be the time proven standard and is widely available but may be more difficult to learn. Since I had an old plastic sears one that I never did figure out I am worried about the Leigh learning curve.

Anyone care to coment on either one to help make up my mind

thanks
Phil

[Chip Lindley]

I have no experience with Akeda. (I thot that was a big *husky-looking* dog!)

My Leigh D4 24" worked Great, right out of the box (once I set it up per the excellent instructions) There is a moderate learning curve, as with any precise machine. You can't go wrong with a Leigh!

Besides, gently used Leigh jigs can be had off CL or eB at quite a savings. I very rarely see an Akeda offered in the Mid-West.

[Ed Labadie]

I upgraded from a pc4212 to a used Akeda. It is fairly easy to figure out and does a good job. Dust collection is excellent.
I would highly recommend a clear base plate on the router, since there are gaps inbetween the fingers, you need to see where the router is at on the jig. There are spacers you can cut and install to fill the gaps if desired.
My jig came with a set of 1/4" shank cutters, I need to upgrade to the 8mm shank ones. The 8mm ones supposedly don't chatter as much.

The most frustrating part has been having to adjust the workpiece width to get the dovetail spacing symetrical.

No experience with the Leigh.

Ed

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm a Leigh user, and they look more scary than they are. They also come with probably the best manual ever written for a woodworking tool. Nothing I would change about mine.

[Richard Link]

I second the enthusiastic support for the Leigh. Outstanding educational materials with that item. Great video, awesome manual. Using it is a little complicated at first but there is such good support that you can get over the learning curve quite quickly. You can't go wrong with it.

[Mick Zelaska]

I'm a Leigh user, and they look more scary than they are. They also come with probably the best manual ever written for a woodworking tool. Nothing I would change about mine.

I hope you're right, Steve. Bought my Leigh about a year ago and so far have just played around with it. Have some serious drawer making to do over the next couple weeks and am determined to use dovetails. I expect I'll find out if this "old dog" can learn a new trick soon enough.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I hope you're right, Steve. Bought my Leigh about a year ago and so far have just played around with it. Have some serious drawer making to do over the next couple weeks and am determined to use dovetails. I expect I'll find out if this "old dog" can learn a new trick soon enough.


Mick, you'll have fun! Just flip in the book to the type of dovetail that you want to make, and follow along with your router. A couple repetitions, and it starts to all make sense as to why you do different things in that order. One of these days I'm going to try those inlaid dovetails...:D

[Loren Hedahl]

I'm an old retired guy, with a 50 year old house -- so I became a woodworker by default. The house was very modern for 1960 and we love it, but it has many of the features of that era, i.e. small bedrooms, smaller baths, small kitchen and quite a lot of built-ins.

In upgrading the kitchen we wanted to stay with the original cabinet framing, since the general layout was great and the framing was still in excellent shape. Since the drawers were of 'whatever' height, I went with the Leigh D4 so flexible dovetail spacing could be accommodated. I had more problems with tear out because of the quality of wood I was using, than setting the jig up. In the end I made templates of each drawer size using some soft straight grain pine, then used the templates to pre-cut the surface of the drawer sides with a chisel.

Now if I were to make new drawers again, I would strongly consider using a Festool Domino and making domino drawers instead of dovetails.

Or laying aside aesthetics I might go with pocket screws and glue or possibly glue and screw, then when the glue dried, remove the screws then drill and dowel where the screws were removed.

That's what I like about projects of this sort -- there are about as many ways to do something as you can shake a stick at!

[Adam Wissman]

i have a leigh and has the best manual i have ever seen and used. very easy to set up and its as easy as the videos on their websites, it is easier than it looks. 1+ for the leigh( not saying the akeda is worse though.)

[Tim Johnson]

I have a Leigh 24" Super Jig and have made about 50 drawers with it so far, it is the easiest jig I've had to set up and get excellent results. As others mentioned, the instructions are the best I've ever seen for a tool. If you can follow the steps, you'll get great results. I've owned a few "cheaper" imposters, but always had to spend a lot of time "tuning" it to get decent drawers. The Leigh gives me great results with less time in setup and tuning.

The best part is I am not limited by jig dimensions to base my drawer height on, I can lay out the dovetails to get a layout that fits my drawer dimensions. Given that I often work off a plan in my head, the ability to make this decision on the go as the plan in my head changes is priceless IMO.

I have no experience with the Akeda, so can't comment on that jig, but IMO, you will not regret the Leigh.

[Al Navas]

Phillip,

I would not trade my old(er) Leigh D4 for anything out there. It is *** the *** caddy of dovetail jigs, just like the D4R and the Super Jigs of today. Although some might present the argument that the Leigh jigs have a very steep learning curve, I was able to make great dovetails in ust a couple of hours. My recommendation: Stick word-for-word with the instruction manual, use some scrap boards, and learn to make the basic box before you attempt anything else. You WILL have a great aha! moment before long.

One more thing: The folks here are extremely helpful, so drop by and ask away.





... One of these days I'm going to try those inlaid dovetails...:D
Steve,

I have a feeling you mean something like this :D ;) :):

http://www.leighjigs.com/data/1171057390.jpg

I made this little box as a prototype, and Leigh liked it well enough to include it in their Inlaid Dovetails Gallery (http://www.leighjigs.com/gallery.php?pid=1&section=15). The lid has inlaid walnut "bow ties", which might well be a first in this type of box. The bow ties are simply end-on-end dovetails.


.

[Roger Jensen]

I have the Akeda and like it for through dovetails. I haven't used the Leigh.

I am thinking of getting a low end Porter-Cable for half-blind dovetails, however. With the Akeda it is two operations, one for the front and one for the side. With the PC you cut the front and side at the same time, plus having the horizontal piece butt up against the vertical piece prevents some tearout, which can get pretty bad with plywood sides. Since I'm only doing half-blind dovetails for kitchen cabinets it would be a definite time saver.

I'm intrigued by "Domino drawers", but not intrigued enough to spend that much money...

Roger

[Jim Kountz]

Another vote for the Leigh. It only looks intimidating. Actually after a couple uses you will have it down pat. Its not hard at all, I feel alot of that talk is hype from people who for some reason or another just didnt get it figured out.

[Philip Johnson]

I have spent the evening on the Leigh website viewing the videos and they seem pretty easy, makes a bit more sense now. I would probably get the D4R if I go leigh. It seems like the VRS would be worth getting, any other accessories or router bits I should consider getting at the same time. Do I need some bushings for my router, I have a Bosch router now and would probably pick up another to avoid changing bits all the time.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Phillip,

I would not trade my old(er) Leigh D4 for anything out there. It is *** the *** caddy of dovetail jigs, just like the D4R and the Super Jigs of today. Although some might present the argument that the Leigh jigs have a very steep learning curve, I was able to make great dovetails in ust a couple of hours. My recommendation: Stick word-for-word with the instruction manual, use some scrap boards, and learn to make the basic box before you attempt anything else. You WILL have a great aha! moment before long.

One more thing: The folks here are extremely helpful, so drop by and ask away.





Steve,

I have a feeling you mean something like this :D ;) :):

http://www.leighjigs.com/data/1171057390.jpg

I made this little box as a prototype, and Leigh liked it well enough to include it in their Inlaid Dovetails Gallery (http://www.leighjigs.com/gallery.php?pid=1&section=15). The lid has inlaid walnut "bow ties", which might well be a first in this type of box. The bow ties are simply end-on-end dovetails.


.


Yes! Exactly like that! Beautiful box Al!

[David Moody]

I would also include the PC Omnijig in your list. I have been using mine (the 24" model) about a year now and have been extremely happy with it. It has a recipe card approach that makes it practically a no-brainer to use if you just follow the steps labelled on the jig. Even with that approach, it is still quite capable and adjustable for custom and variable settings.

One thing, no matter what jig you choose, is that you should review and include the various accessories and include these in your pricing. Despite their name (accessories) many of them are, in my opinion, necessities for really using the jig. Some of the accessories I'm thinking of include the dust collector, a full set of bits with an extra set for the most common size or sizes you will use, a full set of template guides/bushings, and any additional templates or stops for common joining designs.

When I was comparing jigs, I included the accessory costs for each and found that while the base jig price varied somewhat, the accessories costs tended to level out the price. So it ended up becoming more of a decision based upon the functionality that I wanted and felt comfortable with.

Also, have 2 routers in your stable if you don't already have them. Switching routers with a jig makes the work go considerably faster and consistently (since you don't have to readjust the bit depth every time you change from the dovetail to the straight bit).

[Navin Rao]

I picked up a Leigh D4R a year ago. Most of the high points have been already highlighted:
1) The documentation (DVD and book) is the best I have come across so far.
2) I was drawn to the versatility of dovetail placement with this jig.
3) I would suggest the Vacuum router support as it works quite well.
4) The 8 mm bits are really sturdy and have stood up well.
5) It was pricey ... but the quality makes it worthwhile.

Although I have not yet bought it, I liked the fact that I could buy the M2 template for making multiple mortise and tenons if I so desired.

[Jim Eller]

See #13 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=98823&highlight=dovetail

[Thomas Pender]

Works well for me for the past three or four years. While I am tempted to buy the big Leigh, it would be kind of like buying something I have no experience with to replace something that I know works with something I hope might work better. :o (The eternal desire.) (Went through two jigs before I got the Akeda.) Would also highly annoy my wife and besides, I want yet another hand plane.

Regardless, I use a clear baseplate I got from Pat Watner and I hook my Festool Vacuum to the dust collector hose thing and plug the router into it to turn it on. Works great. Have no problem with it. I would make the point that synergy is nice and I use the Festool with losts of my router operations but it really works well for the Akeda jig.

[Scott Stafford]

I had the Leigh D4 for a number of years and liked it very much. When Akeda introduced the 24" BC24 I decided to sell my D4 to a buddy and try the Akeda. I did this mainly just to try something new, not because I didn't like the Leigh. Well I've have to tell you that I really enjoy the Akeda. Set up is much easier, it's easy to balance the router on, and the dust collection really works.

Again, the D4 was a very good machine and mine was several years old; I have not used the current version.


Scott in Montana

[Philip Johnson]

I do like every thing I have read and seen on the Akeda, the only thing that really concerns me is replacement guides and parts down the road a few years. It does seem like a very small market with only two places to buy it. I just wonder how long they can survive in this market

After spending some time on the Leigh websites watching videos the leigh does not seem so intimadating, I kept reading about the steep learning curve of the Leigh, so I was a bit worried about it. Maybe if I think about it long enough one or the other will pop up on craigslist, but I have not seen either one yet.

[Roger Jensen]

I guess you could buy an extra set of guides if you were concerned. However, on most jobs you only use several of them, so you would have plenty of spares in case you break/lose one.

They also use bits that are a little different from standard, but I purchased an extra set from Whiteside (for the shocking price of $189).

In my opinion there is no perfect jig - you have to remember that the audience starts to shrink as they add features. The really sophisticated folks are probably cutting their dovetails by hand anyway and aren't looking to a jig.

Roger