Leight D4R vs Akeda 24"?

[Rick Cicciarelli]

So now Akeda has come out with a 24" jig. Has anyone noticed any differences between the two from descriptions? Thickness of stock they can handle, angles of dovetails they make, etc. etc.? I still lean towards the D4R but the dust collection on the Akeda is far superior. Still....I haven't seen much on the Akeda 24...but I know the Leigh can handle thicker stock than the Akeda 18.

[Charles Robertson]

Rick, I looked at the Akeda on the web yesterday. In reading the reviews and watching the vids it looked impressive. The reviewers were impressed with it. Check out the web site. Akeda.com. Experience-wise, I'm no help, but I'm very interested in it. Hope this helps you. Al R.

[Steven Bolton]

Who sells it?

Thanks

Steve Bolton

[Tom Cowie]

So now Akeda has come out with a 24" jig. Has anyone noticed any differences between the two from descriptions? Thickness of stock they can handle, angles of dovetails they make, etc. etc.? I still lean towards the D4R but the dust collection on the Akeda is far superior. Still....I haven't seen much on the Akeda 24...but I know the Leigh can handle thicker stock than the Akeda 18.

The Akeda looks very impressive. The Leigh D4 used to cover me with shavings then I got their VRS (vacuum router support) It made a world of difference. Hooked to a regular shop vac there's very little shavings that escape.

Tom

[Russell Tribby]

I have the 16" and love it. The repeatability and dust collection are great. My experience with dealing with the company has been even better. When I first bought the jig I couldn't produce the simplest half blind joint to save my life. I had adjusted the height of the bit as low as it would go in order to get the correct fit and it still didn't work. I emailed the company and explained my problem. The next day I got a call from the president, Kevan Lear. He was genuinely interested in helping me solve the problem. He thought that the bushing I had may have been too small so he sent me an oversized one. That didn't solve the problem so he then sent me some oversized and undersized bits. All of this was done free of charge. None of this solved my problem. I finally broke down and bought a different router (I had been using a Bosch 1617). As soon as I tried the jig with the new router it worked perfectly, it had been my router that was the problem all along. Throughout this whole ordeal I must have talked to Kevan 3 or 4 times on the phone and exchanged numerous emails trying to solve my problem. I've never experienced such outstanding service in my life. Outside of the beauty of their product, I would give Akeda my business again in a heartbeat.

[Charles Robertson]

Rick,thanks for the question. Russell, you helped make up my mind. Did you check out the reviews on the web site? Kevan Lear and his dt jig must be for real. Thank's again guys. Al R

[Carl Crout]

I have the 16" and love it. The repeatability and dust collection are great. My experience with dealing with the company has been even better. When I first bought the jig I couldn't produce the simplest half blind joint to save my life. I had adjusted the height of the bit as low as it would go in order to get the correct fit and it still didn't work. I emailed the company and explained my problem. The next day I got a call from the president, Kevan Lear. He was genuinely interested in helping me solve the problem. He thought that the bushing I had may have been too small so he sent me an oversized one. That didn't solve the problem so he then sent me some oversized and undersized bits. All of this was done free of charge. None of this solved my problem. I finally broke down and bought a different router (I had been using a Bosch 1617). As soon as I tried the jig with the new router it worked perfectly, it had been my router that was the problem all along. Throughout this whole ordeal I must have talked to Kevan 3 or 4 times on the phone and exchanged numerous emails trying to solve my problem. I've never experienced such outstanding service in my life. Outside of the beauty of their product, I would give Akeda my business again in a heartbeat.

How was your router causing a problem?

[Tim Sproul]

I had both the Akeda 16 inch and D4 (not the D4R). The D4 is no longer in my shop. I make a lot more dovetailed drawers than cases. IMO, dovetailed cases are one place to 'show off' your hand tool skills with fine pins and variable spacing and such...whereas drawers just require a stout joint. The 1/8 inch indexing of the Akeda jig doesn't present a problem....I've never run into a situation where I couldn't make a 3 1/8 tall drawer instead of a 3 1/16 tall drawer. I did find the Akeda branded bits were not the quality I'd like - needed honing. Get the Whiteside bits if your budget allows.

I also like that the dust collection on the Akeda is integral to the jig and not attached to the router. I don't know if this still holds true for the 24 inch Akeda jig and if the vacuum attachment for the newer Leigh jigs still attaches to the router or not. By not having the hose attached to the router, I find it easier to mount and unmount boards from the jig.....I just set the router aside. A vac hose attached to the router would require a lot more care in setting the router down and picking it back up. A small thing but when you're routing 12 drawers - possibly 48 operations on a dovetail jig - that small thing adds up quickly. Especially if you break the vac attachment.

[Russell Tribby]

Carl, I'm not sure what was going on with my router. To be honest I was so tired of dealing with it that by the time I got the new router I didn't spend the time to try and figure out the issue, I just sold the router. I don't think the problem was inherent to the 1617, rather I imagine that it was something specific to the one I had. I second the notion to get the Whiteside bits. The ones that come with the Akeda jig are okay but not spectacular.

[Grant Morris]

Does anyone know what the max stock thickness is on the D4 and Akeda jigs (couldn't find it on their web sites!), and is 24" the size of the stock length they can actually handle?

TIA

[Samuel A. Livingstone]

The D4R has a maximum 1.5 thickness for tail and pin boards. I think the D4 has similar thickness restriction. I tried a post that was 1.76 inch and it did not work. Even 1.6 inch did not work.

Sam Livingstone

[Jim McFarland]

<snip>
I also like that the dust collection on the Akeda is integral to the jig and not attached to the router. I don't know if this still holds true for the 24 inch Akeda jig and if the vacuum attachment for the newer Leigh jigs still attaches to the router or not.
<snip>


FWIW, vacuum hose connects to the sliding hood on the newer Leigh VRS attachment and not directly to the router.

[Wayne Cannon]

My experience with using both is exactly the same as Tim Sproul's. The Akeda setup is significantly quicker (including variable spacing within it's 1/8" resolution) and its dust collection works great. The D4 is more flexible for unusual dovetail situations, but I haven't used it since I got the Akeda.