Leigh Dovetail jigs.

[Chris Hachet]

How much of a pain in the butt are Leigh dovetail jigs? I can cut halfway decent joints by hand, and I have a Porter Cable 4212 for when I need to knock out things like kitchen cabinet drawers. But I would like to build some more creative stuff with some different dovetail arrangements. I have heard horror stories about the Leigh jigs....what's the 411 on these?

[Ed Aumiller]

Have had one for over 18 years... Love it... Do not use it every day, but when I make drawers or special boxes, it is great... like the fact that you can space dovetails to different spacing and widths to make it look unique.. especially for boxes, etc...

They are no pain at all to use.... very easy, actually...

Have a good friend that uses one commercially for high quality furniture all the time...

Good product and good investment...

Ed A.

[Bob Michaels]

Plus one. High quality and excellent instruction Manual.

[Larry Frank]

I love my Leigh also....just have to follow the directions which are really good.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Plus another, I enjoy using mine, the manual is awesome. Don't overtighten the fingers though... oops.

[Charles Lent]

I have the D4R, but don't use it often, so I have to go back to the manual each time to get set up correctly, but when the manual is followed, I have never had a problem. The manual is great and makes the setups easy.
Expect to make a couple of test cuts to be certain that it is adjusted right and the jig will do a great job for you. My biggest problem when learning to use the D4R was forgetting to lower the fingers back down to the top of the board before making the cuts, totally operator error and not the fault of the jig.I can guarantee that if you forget to do this you will ruin the cut and it's not the jig' that should be blamed. When you use it right it will make perfect dovetails.

Charley

[David Eisenhauer]

I would be curious to hear what kind of "horror" stories you have heard about the Leigh. I have used one since the the 1980's? 1990's? (or when ever the first version was released) and have never had any problems at all. Like all above have said, they provide an industry-leading owner's manual with the jig and, if you follow the steps, your first attempts at through dovetails will result in a usable box. The only thing I can think of would be if someone is the type that never reads the directions on anything, might have to plow through the setup several times with somewhat less than acceptable success until they figure it out. I automatically followed the manual and never have looked back. Admittedly, I make through dovetails 90% of the time and can't comment on the remainder of the functions.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

David, my "horror" story is my own doing. As I mentioned above, don't overtighten the fingers. There is no need, the manual says this. I still did, and had to buy some parts. I also had a POS plunge router lock slip one time, which caused the bit to go up into the bushing and a jig finger. It's better to use a fixed base router, but if not, lock it well. Both issues were my fault.

[Richard Coers]

No pain in my tookus using mine. I prefer the Keller for case work and fast through dovetails, but the Leigh works great for random spacing.

[Christopher Clark]

I have the older 1258-24 will a few upgrades from Leigh and never have problems. I printed a couple of key pages from the manual. I leave them on the jig because I can't remember 'stuff'. I got this one on the bay for $100. See them pretty often there.
The adjustable spacing is nice. I did these joints after a few test tries.
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[Ralph Okonieski]

I had a fairly long learning curve until I understood exactly how it worked. The boards need to be square and straight. I love it and am very happy with it.

[Mikail Khan]

I am happy with mine. Tighten all fingers, even those not in use. Vibration from the router will cause the loose screws to back out and get lost.

Ensure that the board that you are machining is clamped tightly and square to the fingers.

MK

[Danny Hamsley]

I love my D4R.

[Chris Hachet]

I have the older 1258-24 will a few upgrades from Leigh and never have problems. I printed a couple of key pages from the manual. I leave them on the jig because I can't remember 'stuff'. I got this one on the bay for $100. See them pretty often there.
The adjustable spacing is nice. I did these joints after a few test tries.
279103
THAT is a beautiful joint!

[Chris Hachet]

I had a fairly long learning curve until I understood exactly how it worked. The boards need to be square and straight. I love it and am very happy with it.I am glad to hear that-most of the horror stories I have heard concern the learning curve. However, my 4212 was a pretty easy learning curve. To make beautiful joints quickly, a couple of weekends in the garage seems more than fair!

[Chris Hachet]

I love my D4R.

Thank you for the endorsement-right now my spare woodworking $ is going to Lie Nielson for a few more hand planes. after that....Katy bar the door, I am getting a Leigh....

[Mark Blatter]

I have had the D4R for about eight years. The first few times I had to refer back to the manual when setting it up. Since then it has become pretty automatic. Twice I had questions that I needed help with and the Leigh folks were amazingly helpful. They took quite a bit of time to help and answer questions for something that was not their issue, but mine. They also replaced a part seven years after I bought the jig, with no charge to me for the part or shipping.

I would never hesitate to buy a tool from Leigh.

[Christopher Clark]

Thanks Chris!
I ran several scrap pieces to setup before I attempted this on the tiger maple and quarter sawn oak front that matched the rest of the piece. Only one chance to get it right. Definitely sweating bullets during those cuts! The adrenalin rush was my reward. ;)
Chris
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