Leigh Dovetail Jig Advice

[petertheeater]

Hello All
I used a Leigh Dovetail Jig (D4) for the first time today. Bought it 2nd hand on eBay a few months ago.
I seem to be getting the hang of it but noticed that the 'fingers' don't seem to be at right angles to the front vertical face. Consequently the shoulder of the D/T tails are angled leaving a gap on the inside of the two mated pieces.
The two right angled pieces on each end that hold the bars with fingers on, seem true, with very little room for play and can't really be forced over enough to correct them. Equally the Ali extrusion at the front seems in good order.
Am I missing something really obvious here. I have attached a photo of the jig set up.
Any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks in advance.
Peter

 

[Adam9453]

Perhaps move the workpiece up higher until the fingers are actually perpendicular to the face of the workpiece?
Just a guess as i haven't used that particular jig personally

 

[cedarwood]

Yes there should be a piece of squared scrap wood coming from under the fingers to meet the piece that you are routing,
the fingers then lay flat on that.

 

[Rhossydd]

Yes there should be a piece of squared scrap wood coming from under the fingers to meet the piece that you are routing, the fingers then lay flat on that.

Looking at the OP's photo there is a piece of timber there.(Leigh call it a finger support board)
It may be that the FSB isn't flat and square, it also looks a bit too small to properly support the fingers. Most illustrations show it coming beyond the finger support rail to provide support on both sides of rail.

Leigh provide good instructions that are available to download freely from their web site, along with several instructional videos. The jig isn't the most intuitive bit of kit and reading all the manuals is pretty important to understanding the jig and how to get the best from it.

 

[petertheeater]

Yes there should be a piece of squared scrap wood coming from under the fingers to meet the piece that you are routing, the fingers then lay flat on that.

Looking at the OP's photo there is a piece of timber there.(Leigh call it a finger support board)
It may be that the FSB isn't flat and square, it also looks a bit too small to properly support the fingers. Most illustrations show it coming beyond the finger support rail to provide support on both sides of . . .

Hi. I have been using a finger support board pulled all the way forward to meet the work piece. I used a piece of 18mm MDF. The fingers just do not sit flat on it. It seems a bit to forced to push the workpiece up higher to make the finger support perpendicular. Thanks

 

[cedarwood]

hmm without probably being there and looking not sure what is wrong with your jig I have the super 12 and don't have any problems with it, I actually use a piece of oak as my finger board whether that is better than your piece of mdf or not is any bodies guess.

 

[petertheeater]

Thanks all.
After a few hours of wiggling and jiggling I concluded that the two end brackets holding the finger support bar were bent. I don't know if the previous owner had dropped the jig or it had been damaged in transit. I managed to bend them back and went on about my dovetailing business.
Thanks
Peter