Leigh D4 Dovetail Jig

[Jonathan Patrick]

I am looking for some feedback as to how good this jig is. I do not own a dovetail jig yet and am in the financial position to be able to purchase the one I WANT rather than what I could get by with. If any of you own the D4 or have personal experience with one would you mind sharing your opinions.
Thanks to all and Merry Christmas!
Jonathan Patrick

[Dev Emch]

Well Jonathan...
Your in luck. Go and buy the new and improved D4 jig. Same jig but now its gots a one piece body.

The reason the D4 is the best boils down to Leigh *NOT* giving the finger to everyone else. Yup, its the finger or fingers. They have a unique patent on these adjustable fingers and no one else has them. I personally would like to see more oliver-isms in the construction of the D4 but all in all, its a great jig.

I use this jig all the time to do drawers for the most part. Also, without copying the entire user manual here, there are some great reasons to insist in getting a 24 inch jig. For example, non-symetrical tail layouts.

So there are lots of options and other jigs out there. When the dust settles, you will find that the D4, the Akeda and the Porter Cable often rise to the top of the cream jug. The Akeda and PC are better made than the D4 but the PC has no variable spacing persay and the Akeda is limited to about 16 inches and uses variable spacing on 1/8 integral multiples. On the PC (Omnijig), variable spacing is an option and its only useful for through tails. You cannot use variable spacing for half lap or blind tails.

So my vote goes for the D4.

[Rick de Roque]

Have had the D4 for about a year and its the best I've used. Have used the full 24" on some projects and really like the variable spacing. Learning curve was not as tough as I thought it would be. The manual is the best. You will be looking for projects to use it on.

Rick

[Cecil Arnold]

My only problem with the D4 is having to pull out the manual each time I use it since I don't use it enough. IMHO it is the best of the bunch, but as Dev says there is not enough Oliver there. The manual is the best around, and the spacing ability is unmatched.

[Charles Wade]

I've had mine for about 8 months. Works fine, manual is great. It will no doubt do everything you need. The 24" which I have is very big, tho. It isn't easy to store since it's 30" or more in length and a foot or so high. I doubt I'll ever need that much length- -would be tempted to look at their shorter version (16") which has recently appeared.

[Barry O'Mahony]

I got one a few months ago; I wanted to do a blanket-chest-like project with DT corners and was able to justify the purchase to myself with the need to do 20"+ wide DT joints. IMO it's a great DT jig. The variable spacing means you can do joints that look more "hand made". The 24" width lets you do alot more than just drawer joints. The manual and the video do an excellent job of explaining what can be a complicated set of options. In fact, I think the manual is widely regarded as being the best of any tool, hands down. The explanation of milling techniques to minimize tearout is especially helpful.

I had a cheap Rockler-style jig previously that I'd use for half-blind joints on drawers, and got rid of it. 'might was well only have to learn how to use one jig, the Leigh, for everything.

[Matt Meiser]

Love it. I don't use it that much, but every time I do, I get perfect joints with no fuss. The manual is great and guides you through the setup process. It worked so well that I turned my setup boards into a nice little box for our remote controls. The variable spacing of the fingers is the key.

Someone is going to jump into this thread and say do it by hand, which is probably a good skill to learn, but even when I do, I'm keeping my D4.

[Tom Jones III]

I got mine for a project that I am just finishing (pics soon). I made 3 chests of drawers simultaneously with a total of 21 drawers! That is a lot of dovetails. I bought a second router so that I could have all the bits I needed mounted in routers and just switch from router to router with the heights and bits already setup. It did take a long time to get the first drawer made, but after that it was very easy and repeatable.

[Charlie Plesums]

I love it - it was my second and last dovetail jig.


...The 24" which I have is very big, tho. It isn't easy to store since it's 30" or more in length and a foot or so high. ...

The jig should either be attached to a bench or mounted on a board that can be clamped to a bench. I made the board a little larger, and put an end on it that allows it to be stored on end, resting on the mounting board. I also put a simple place to mount the accessories such as the sliding dovetail adapter, square driver, etc.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Another vote for the D4!

[John Stevens]

Wonderful company--the manual is easy, the free instructional DVD is great. Tech support over the phone is generous and competent. The jig itself is well made, and with one exception, everyone is able to make flawless joints with it.

The one exception is me. I have poor "fine motor skills." Whether it's throwing a baseball, playing a guitar, or trying to use woodworking tools, I'm all thumbs. Always have been, ever since I was a kid. I hung in there for six weekends with the Leigh jig, spent over thirty hours making test cuts, but I never could get two consecutive joints to fit correctly. I spoke with Barry (the tech support guy) four times. Nice guy, very knowledgeable about his product and happy to spend as much time on the phone as needed, exploring every possible solution. By the end, we ruled out every possible problem with the jig, and the only possible source of the error was me.

So my only reservation about the Leigh D4 is that if you're all thumbs like me, it may not be a good choice. Otherwise, the jig itself and the company that stands behind it are top quality.

[Josh Bendel]

Another vote for the D4

[Jim Becker]

I am looking for some feedback as to how good this jig is. I do not own a dovetail jig yet and am in the financial position to be able to purchase the one I WANT rather than what I could get by with. If any of you own the D4 or have personal experience with one would you mind sharing your opinions.

It's worth more than I paid for it in versatility, quality and flexibility. It's also easy to use, despite it's apparent complexity. The manual is the BEST in the business and I've seen folks do very complicated stuff "early in their relationship" with the tool. The company is also top-notch when it comes to support, too.

[Fred Voorhees]

I would think by now that you had heard enough positive comments about it, but I will just add mine. Like a few of the posters here, I also don't use mine very often, but when I do, it never lets me down. Yeah, I may have to turn to the manual with each use after it has been sitting idle, but that is no problem with the manual that comes with it. It is straight forward and is hard to NOT understand. You will not regret purchasing this DT jig. Hands down still the best out there overall.

[Gene Collison]

I'll take full resposibility of being odd man out. I am a Leigh traitor, as great as the Leigh instruction manual is, I must say that is fully needed:rolleyes: . If you don't need more than 16", and most people don't, the Akeda deserves a real close look. It is simpler in every way with full dust collection and the ability to set the router on top of the jig instead of the balancing act that the Leigh requires. I found that when I owned the Leigh I shyed away from using it just because I would have to get the manual out and learn all over again besides getting covered with debris. You can get the job done with the Akeda before you figure out how to use the Leigh, the first time. Don't be put off by the 1/8" incremental part because you can make assymetrical joints with the Akeda easily. All you need to do is have the same side of the board up against the fence on either end of the jig with the identical guides on both ends of the jig. This is something that is an excercise in futility on the Leigh.

My .02:)

Gene

[John Lucas]

I have read these posts with interest. Having reviewed 11 DT jigs and getting quite comfortable with each, I am delighted to hear such positive comments about the Leigh and their manual. For years, the manual was being criticized for being to large and lengthy. What it is is very detailed with great step-by- step pages of illustrations.
I like the D4 but I dont know if the great width is needed. Frankly, I have done three blanket chests with DT methods on 6" to 8" widths. I do them in sections, joint them in sections and combine them in sections...and you wouldnt know the difference. I did it that way the first time because I wanted to use the Incrajig and do use double corner post corners. Too hard to do those on boards wider than 8" so I created sled for router table that would joint to the 1/2 DT line. It worked so well that I subsequently did a blanket chest using only 7 inch width of the Akeda JIg (pic).
My first dovetailed blanket chest was done with a 24 inch wide jig I made with the Stots DT Master...that is probably still the easiest way.
This is not to impress anyone other than there are a lot of choices and we are sure lucky for that.
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/jess-160.jpg
Beth combining the sections on the router table.
Step-by-step here: http://www.woodshopdemos.com/jess-16.htm

[Jim Becker]

...I am delighted to hear such positive comments about the Leigh and their manual. For years, the manual was being criticized for being to large and lengthy. What it is is very detailed with great step-by- step pages of illustrations.

I find this interesting as I've never seen a post in the various forums I've participated in over the last six years or so that said anything bad about the Leigh manual, including the "large and lengthy" thing! (But that's my eyesight/attention problem I bet ;) ) I suspect that anyone would would say that likely didn't take too much time to look through it with any attention to detail. As you know, it's organized very well and one really only has to look at a page or three to see the step-by-step for any one of many types of dovetails. If you only need/want to do one or two types, you only need to read a few pages...the other sections don't apply to you. That's one of the things I really like about the Leigh manual in addition to the details...the organization.

[Steve Rowe]

I have had a Leigh D4 for about 8 years now. Love it and manual is detailed and easy to follow. Dumped the Omnijig although it did have some nice advantages over the Leigh particularly in the clamping arena. The Leigh however, wins out in versatility.
Steve

[Tom Ruflin]

I bought a leigh used for $150 at a tool swap. Best $150 I have ever spent. I use a 24 inch center finding ruler to help set up symetrical dovetails and find it really cuts the time to setup the fingers.