Dovetail Jig?

[Calpol]

Any recommendations? I'm looking at the Leigh Super 12 job or maybe 18, then there's the D4R which I can't see any difference in but costs more...

 

[ike]

I may be wrong but I think the D4R can do sliding dovetails/cross housing whereas the Superjig can't?

Ike

 

[Calpol]

The Super does sliding numbers as well, I don't know why it costs more. It's 24" but still more than the Super 24...

 

[BradNaylor]

Unless you're doing production runs of dovetails I wouldn't bother with a jig at all - do them by hand.

It's what I've gone back to doing - and I've got a Leigh D4 on the shelf.

Cheers
Dan

 

[MikeH]

If you do go for the Leigh jig, I would recommend the (fairly) new vacuum attachment leigh sell. Makes for a far cleaner workshop at the end.

 

[p111dom]

I believe (although I don't have either) the main difference between the two is that with the super Supers jigs you can only adjust the spacing of the dovetails. With the D4 you can adjust both the spacing and the width of the pins. Does that make any sense? Basically it's the pins that are different. The pins of super jig are a single cast pieces so you can only do one fixed size of dovetail but with infinatley variable spacing in between them. The D4's pins are cast in two parts so you can split these giving infinatley variable pin sizes and variable spacing in between. Hope this explains things.

 

[Lark]

do any of the leigh jigs go cheap now and then
i have never done dove tails yet. not sure how often i would use it
and not quite sure want to pay over £100 when i might not use it alot

 

[p111dom]

Rarely. Havn't seen any super jigs yet buth there was a D4 in the yellow paper a few weeks ago for £150

 

[Lark]

i dont think ill need the big ones. so there already cheaper than that brand new

 

[p111dom]

There's a D4 on ebay right now.

 

[TheWoodJunkie]

Hi , I recently bought a Super 18 I think the main difference is the build quality, The super is more flexible and have lot more plastic

 

[Clive Day]

Hi,
Please contact us and we can send you a Leigh catalogue, this has a comparison chart in it detailing the differences between the Jigs.

Alternatively go to Brimarc.com and follow the links to Leigh this is a great website with lots of helpful hints and a overview of both jigs.

Clive

 

[Calpol]

I believe (although I don't have either) the main difference between the two is that with the super Supers jigs you can only adjust the spacing of the dovetails. With the D4 you can adjust both the spacing and the width of the pins

I think you're right there p111dom, give that man a medal! I was interested in adjusting the width as well so the D4R is the one to go for! Would like to hand cut them and I probably will do sometimes but I only really get weekends now and it means I can rattle out stuff!

And Brimarc catalogue requested Clive Day...

 

[DaveL]

Hi Clive,

Welcome to the forum.

Your link was caught by our spam trap this will stop once you have a few more post to your name.

In case anyone did not know the Brimarc site is here.

 

[Chronosoft]

Well I love my 16" Leigh Jig, I have just make a tool chest and used the jog to create a dovetail carcase and cut 6 dovetail drawers with perfect fit and no hassle once you get used to the set up.

I can't put mine down

 

[beech1948]

Thanks for the laugh guys. :lol:

What a fuss over an expensive, fiddley, slow to use, inaccrate thing as Leigh jig. :twisted:

I sold mine 4 yrs ago. :idea:

I practiced for 2 weeks for an hour a day and can make damn good d/ts by hand.

I do occasionally need to make a set of d/ts over 28 inches long eg. a blanket box. To do this I bought a tool called a STOT jig. It costs about £20. I make from MDF a d/t jig which can be any length, size or style and if it gets out of shape I throw it away and make a new one.

My point is that there has been more written about unneccessary tools such as the Leigh/Gifkins/Perform/etc etc jigs than they warrent. Few it seems are willing to try to adopt the faster method of getting to do it by hand.

regards

Alan

 

[p111dom]

Sorry Alan but any of the jigs cut faster than cutting them by hand. Hand cut look better but are certainly not as fast. I use a Trend DJ300 and have done for years. It's quick and easy to set up and takes me no longer than 10 mins to take it out the drawer, clamp it to the workbench and cut a test. This is more to check than the pins are centered on the peice rather than to check the fit. Here's 60 dovetails on four drawer boxes cut within 30 mins.

I hear what you're saying about people making a fuss over the jigs and I have nothing against hand cut ones but I don't get why people cut them by hand but go for a machine cut look. Traditional dovetails went to a point, impossible with a router and a sure sign that they were cut by hand. Why would I want to take several hours to make a joint that looks the same as one I could cut with a jig in minutes? I think that because more people are used to the machine cut look and perfer it with it's wider pins. I would say that if you want to cut them by hand that's fine but cut them in a way that a machine can't. If not then use a jig. It will save you time and stress when the jig is set up and you're far less likley to ruin stock making a mistake which in turn could also save you money.

 

[Calpol]

Just looked at the D&M catalogue and the D4R is going up £100 in September! Is that the same everywhere in which case it'll be worth getting it soon...?

Also looks like Veritas are upping there prices, but could just be D&M...