Anyone received their new Leigh RTJ-400 Dovetail Jig?

[Marty Tippin]

Haven't heard any updates from folks here who have ordered the new Leigh RJ-400 router table dovetail jig... Anyone?

Mine is set to arrive today; I'll post my initial impressions once I get time to play with it a bit.

[Timothy Shouldice]

I am also curious about this jig - has the OP or anyone else tried it out yet?

[rick bear]

Any updates on the RTJ-400? Would to hear reports from anyone that has use one.

Thanks - Rick

[Wade Lippman]

Got one two weeks ago; haven't tried it yet. Sorry.

Looks solid, and I was overjoyed to find my router is actually centered in the guide!

[rick bear]

Wade,

Look forward to hearing your opinions when you get a chance to use it.

Thanks - Rick

[Marty Tippin]

Unfortunately, other than my initial test cuts on the half-blind dovetails, I haven't done anything else with the RTJ-400 yet - too many other half-done projects that I keep bouncing back and forth on. I do have a set of drawers to make for a workbench project that's been in progress for 18 months, so I will get to exercise the jig on that. Just a matter of it bubbling to the top of my priority list!

I'm surprised also to not hear much on SMC about the jig - it seemed like a no-brainer when I bought mine and I really figured there would be a lot of folks jumping on it also.

[rick bear]

Marty,

How well did it go with the blind dovetails? Was it accurate, easy to set-up, and feel solid?

Thanks - Rick

[Marty Tippin]

Rick - I guess I never got around to posting the results of that initial test, thought I did but can't find it anywhere...

Assembly of the jig took only a few minutes, nothing complicated at all. The instructions are well-written and clear. And there's a set of "quick reference" strips that ride inside the top handle of the jig, which guides you through the setup steps for each different type of joint without having to dig out the entire manual.

It was really pretty straightforward to get the jig set up for half-blind dovetails and I think it took me only 3 attempts making minor adjustments to the "e-Bush" after the first two before I had a very snug fitting half-blind with the tails sitting only slightly proud of the pins as you'd want. I really expected to spend a lot more time working on it; maybe I got lucky.

The only really irritating thing I found about the setup process was getting the bit height correct for half-blind dovetails. The jig comes with a little plastic depth gauge that you're supposed to clamp in the jig and use to set the bit height. Sound easy enough, except that in practice the jig will be on the router table and between you and the bit. So to set up the depth, you have to crane over the top of the jig and peer down into the blackness of the setup gauge, trying to tell whether you've got the height of the bit correct or not. Additionally, the fine adjustment wheel in my Kreg router lift (the one they show in all of the promotional videos for the RTJ-400) is on the front right edge of the lift. And guess what's sitting on top of that wheel when you're trying to set the height for the jig? Yep, the jig itself. And if that's not enough, the Kreg router table fence (which needs to be in place for dust collection) can't be moved back far enough to turn the jig around and set it up from the opposite side of the table (the left side of the fence is held by a captive bolt sliding in a slot in the table). So getting the bit height was a bit of a guessing game and took several iterations, and even then I wasn't sure how accurate it was.

But overall, I'm quite happy with this one initial test (HB dovetails were the primary reason I bought the jig) and I'm sure I'll be able to get my drawer project done in no time once I start on it.

And to answer your other question, the jig definitely feels solid. My only worry is the potential for dropping the jig or banging the fingers into something and bending them - the fingers and entire base plate are milled from a single block of aluminum so if you mess anything up, the jig becomes mostly worthless.

The entire manual for the RTJ-400 is available online and might be worth looking through to get an idea of the setup steps involved for each type of joint. http://www.leighjigs.com/support.php#rs30

[rick bear]

Thanks Marty. That is very helpful.

- Rick