How come no one told me? LOL!

[Denny Rice]

I am the proud owner of a Leigh D4R and like it for the most part, except when I see guys cutting pins and tails at the same time on other jigs. Well, the other day I was "cruising" the Leigh website when all of a sudden I see an "upgrade" for the D4R. I knew they had started making a line of smaller jigs and made a new 24" jig called the D4R Pro, but had not put much time into looking into it. All of a sudden I see you can now create and cut half-blind dovetail pins and tails at the same time! God has answered my prayers. I love the quality of the Leigh jig, it will last me a lifetime, but I always hated flipping the fingers around to cut pins or tails and re-setting the board width,ect,ect. I pulled the CC out as fast as I could and purchased the upgrade, it looks pretty staight forward. I am looking forward to cutting half-blind dovetails in half the time from now on!:D

[Rod Sheridan]

Denny, if you do half-blinds in half-time are they quarter-blind dovetails???

regards, Rod.

[Brad Cambell]

I am looking forward to cutting half-blind dovetails in half the time from now on!:D

I see you were looking forward to it so much, that you were up at 1:30 editing your post!!! LOL
I love how addicting woodworking is. It consumes my thoughts.

[Jim Andrew]

Is that upgrade also available for the D4?

[Denny Rice]

Yes it is. The D4 takes the same kit as the D4R.

[Bill Space]

HI,

Could someone post a link to this? I looked at the Leigh site but did not find it! :confused:

I have a D4...

Thanks!

Bill

[Michael Heffernan]

Here you go:
http://www.leighjigs.com/upgrades.php (http://www.leighjigs.com/upgrades.php)

[Denny Rice]

I love it!

[Jim Andrew]

It says you have to modify the guide fingers or buy new ones. What kind of modification are they talking about?

[eugene thomas]

I have the d4R. isnt it kust a matter of a plastic spacer on the tail board.

[Dick Mahany]

It says you have to modify the guide fingers or buy new ones. What kind of modification are they talking about?
Just a simple small hole drilled in each finger. Their website has complete instructions for the simple jig and directions.

[Denny Rice]

Just a simple small hole drilled in each finger. Their website has complete instructions for the simple jig and directions.
The CS rep at Leigh also told me a lot of people are buying one guide finger (the new style that come on the D4R Pro) that come with the hole already in them to help them with locating the hole on the fingers that were shipped on the D4 and the D4R systems. They are 7 dollars and some change.

[Denny Rice]

too much of a night owl......LOL

[Bill Space]

Denny,

Hope you will have the time to write a review of your upgrade!

Look forward to it if you do... Bill

[Bill Space]

Here you go:
http://www.leighjigs.com/upgrades.php (http://www.leighjigs.com/upgrades.php)

Thanks Mike. That made finding it easy!

[Bill Space]

Just a simple small hole drilled in each finger. Their website has complete instructions for the simple jig and directions.

Here is a link to the PDF document for those interested:

http://www.leighjigs.com/download/SPDT%20and%20BJ%20Upgrade%20Sheet%20for%20D-series%20DT%20Jigs.pdf

[Alan Schaffter]

You wonder why it took them so long? Of course, from their perspective it is a step backward because the big selling point and main purpose of the Leigh jigs is to make variable spaced dovetails. That is something you just can't do with the single pass set-up on the Leigh or any DT jig.

Looking at it another way, people might want to re-consider Leigh jigs because they know they can easily make evenly spaced single pass dovetails if they have a lot of drawers to finish quickly or they just want to develop mastery of the basic DT joint before moving on to variable spaced DT joints.

[Chip Lindley]

I bought my Leigh D4 back in the '90s to cut thru dovetails only, so any disadvantage in cutting half-blind DTs with the Leigh eludes me. It does excellent work in 3/4" stock. The template has to be flipped to do pins or tails, but no biggie.
to me.

Half-blinds are what my Porter Cable 16" 5116 Omnijig does best--In One Pass!

~~Chip~~

[Denny Rice]

You wonder why it took them so long? Of course, from their perspective it is a step backward because the big selling point and main purpose of the Leigh jigs is to make variable spaced dovetails. That is something you just can't do with the single pass set-up on the Leigh or any DT jig.

Looking at it another way, people might want to re-consider Leigh jigs because they know they can easily make evenly spaced single pass dovetails if they have a lot of drawers to finish quickly or they just want to develop mastery of the basic DT joint before moving on to variable spaced DT joints.

Alan,
I couldn't agree more. When you have a bunch of drawers to make all at one time, its nice to be able to cut the pins and tails at the same time and still have the ability of variable spacing.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for that reference! I'm going to have to spring for that little upgrade before the next project that uses half-blinds. :)

[Michael Heffernan]

This is definitely a good addition to the D4, D4R Leigh jigs. Being able to machine a bunch HBDT in drawer boxes in a single pass is nice. Evenly spaced DTs are not the most attractive for fine furniture, IMO. It's worth the extra step of flipping the fingers for that unique look.
Another option, if you can find one used, is to check out the Akeda DT jig. I have the 24 inch model, and when I need to do half blinds in drawers under 12" tall, I use both sides of the jig. Pin boards on the left and tail boards on the right. I can set up for variable spaced DTs and rout the pin and tail board at the same time.