Have the leigh jig out this weekend...

[ian_in_the_midlands]

Loads of machining, loads of opportunity for mistakes, but I think they all went okay....

 

[ian_in_the_midlands]

Just hope they fit in the holes when put together now.

 

[LancsRick]

Lovely. I've got the Axminster jig (the generic design you can find in a lot of places) and the amount of setup time required to get it spot on is crazy. Definitely coveting a leigh jig...

 

[craigy]

That’s a lot of dovies. I’m torn - I love dove tails hand or jig cut, but I simply cannot justify the time for a workshop piece of furniture. Great work though

 

[ian_in_the_midlands]

All drawers fit.
All finished.
Oiled and waxed.
You are right Craigy - a lot of work for garage furniture, but all good practice for welding and drawer making.
I am only doing it as a hobby, so the time in there is time enjoyed.
Hopefully they will last a good number of years too.

 

[Hugopuk]

Excellent work, and even if the only person who gets any satisfaction from the build is yourself, is there anyone better to spend your time and effort on?

 

[monster]

That looks impressive! - I need to learn how to do that!

 

[Farmer Giles]

Very nice job!

I dug the second hand Leigh Superjig I bought a couple of years ago out for the first time at the weekend. I didn't do much apart from butcher a bit of 18mm birch ply, which is what I expected, I just wanted to get used to setting it up and the first bit of wood that came to hand was ply.

I'm going to have go with proper wood this weekend now I get the angle of the dangle, in preparation for lots and lots of kitchen drawers.

In addition to standard drawers, the larder cupboards will have internal drawers, similar to the following but not in ply.

I was contemplating which wood considering the larder drawers are hidden away most of the time. I have some ash, oak and douglas fir, all would need resawing. I don't want to go too posh on the wood but also don't want to spoil the job by going cheap.

I guess if the Leigh jig likes some timbers better than others, that might sway me. Any opinions on suitable wood for these drawers.

Cheers
Andy

 

[ian_in_the_midlands]

I use ash for the front and poplar for the back and sides.
Chosen on cost rather than the best timber for the job. These are only for the garage after all.
I do tend to get a bit of breakout on the edges of the tails.

I wonder how many people have leigh jigs sitting in the garage that have never been used?
My advice is read the instructions carefully.
It is easy to skim read and miss something and make a mistake.
Once a couple of joints are done it is easy - until you come to do it again a few weeks later and have forgotten everything.

 

[custard]

I dug the second hand Leigh Superjig I bought a couple of years ago out for the first time at the weekend. I didn't do much apart from butcher a bit of 18mm birch ply...I was contemplating which wood considering the larder drawers are hidden away most of the time. I have some ash, oak and douglas fir, all would need resawing. I don't want to go too posh on the wood but also don't want to spoil the job by going cheap.

I guess if the Leigh jig likes some timbers better than others, that might sway me. Any opinions on suitable wood for these drawers.

Andy, dovetailing ply with a router based jig is always going to be a bit hit and miss. If you have good quality Baltic Birch and are meticulous about backing boards you might get away with it. But generally you'll just get a splintery mess.

The other area where people often go wrong is they're so excited to have a go with their new jig that they use the first bit of scrap that comes to hand. Unless your components are dead true and square you'll never get a really tight fitting dovetail. So freshly machine up your components and use them before they've had a chance to move again.

The traditional timber for drawer sides is quarter sawn, straight grained Oak. If you're using Blum style drawer runners you don't need to be quite so careful, but for a normal drawer in a drawer cavity you need drawer sides that will be as stable as possible or else in time they'll bind. Look carefully at your boards and any tendency towards excessive coping or wind means those boards should be used for something else.

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks Custard, I think the ply came out rather well, a touch of Liberon filler stick and you will never know!

I knew they ply would blow out, I just wanted to get a feel for it. I quite like the idea of ply for some drawers so may have a go with backing boards at some point.

Not sure DeWalt 626EK is the right router, a bit big. My Trend T5 cut outs at the lightest sign of load, very annoying.

I have some reasonable oak, and I am using Blum style runners so probably go for that.

Cheers
Andy