Leigh Dovetail Jigs

Let me change that last line….. I’m begging for opinions.

-- I've cut that board three times and it's still too short!

Hello Shaun – have the Liegh D4R – and I am extreemly happy with it, although I hav not used it in over a year.

I do not have the dust collector attachment on mine (4 years old), but to be honest I have never found that I really needed it.

As to router bits, I have quite a collection of bits, i did start buying the cheaper look-a-like bits, but I have since found that I was more happy with the quality of the Liegh originals. The liegh system is qute expensive, but the versatility and use in a proffesional shop (time Saving) it is worth it.

If you do make the investment for the Liegh, just be sure that it will be used a lot to justify the cost – it will probably outlast you with the quality. Good luck in your decision making

-- Tony - All things are possible, just some things are more difficult than others! - SKYPE: Heron2005 (http://www.poydatjatuolit.fi)

Shaun,

I too have the D4R and like Tony, I’m happy with it’s quality and design. And also like Tony, mine just sits on a shelf in the shop collecting dust. It’s probably been years since I’ve used it.

If you’re not going to be cranking out dovetail drawers, I might reconsider. Again, that’s just my opinion. You say that you’ll find enough future uses for it, if so then go for it.

As far as which one, I’d definitely go for the Super with the dust collection attachment. The dust collection is nice, but the really benefit to this attachment is the extra support that it give the router. One of the big reasons for making mistakes with this jig is tilting the router off the fingers of the jig making a cut into the piece of wood that can’t be fixed. With the added support, this shouldn’t happen.

Just as a side note. I stopped using my jig when I learned to cut dovetails by hand. It’s really not that hard to learn, just takes practice. Just another option.

Good luck in your decision.

-- Craig, www.WoodworkersResource.com (Where Information meets Inspiration)

Shaun, I’m with you I’ve been looking into these jigs. The bottom line is the D4R does more/different types of joints, but it depends if you are interested in that capacity or not. The leigh site is www.leighjigs.com/ is great with videos, details, specs etc. I think you’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about the two jigs there. I have a junky dovetail jig that only does blind dovetails now and hate it. My plan is to get one or the other soon. I’m bending toward the D4R only because I tend to buy overboard so I don’t have to fuss about it later….but you know what your needs are.

-- Jim Hallada, Chesterfield, VA

sorry shaun im suffering through the same process as you . im personally about convinced to buy the big boy with the support system

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did check out Lieghs’s website before posting this. There were plenty of videos for the D4 but I couldn’t find any videos for the super jigs. I’m always a little sceptical of manufacturers promotional stuff and try to take it with a grain of salt. To me it’s kind of like when you go to a restaurant, the stuff always looks great in the commercial but when it gets to the table it looks just like any other hamburger. I like to try and talk to somebody who actually ate the hamburger and see what they think before I spend $450 on one.

I’ve taken a stab at hand cut dovetails in the past and they’ve come out “OK” but, there will be 288 of them in this project and it’s for a customer. So “OK” dovetails won’t get me by and if I try to hand cut 288 of them the customer is likely to loose patients with me.

I can get buy with a box type joint and maybe put a pocket screw behind it to back it up but I’m thinking dovetails would class it up a bit.

Still on the fence…...

-- I've cut that board three times and it's still too short!

I want one. I have wanted one for years. Huh.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon