Dovetail Jig Help

R

Robkonkoma

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Joined
Feb 27, 2007
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25
Hi all  ;D
Looking for advice/opinions on a dovetail jig selection.
I'm looking for a quality jig and have narrowed it down to:

Porter-Cable 77240
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Leigh D4R-24
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Leigh Super 24
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Anyone with firsthand experiences with any of these?
Appears the Porter-Cable system requires many additional accessories when compared to the Leigh's "combos" available at Woodcraft.
I'm a little confused between the two Leigh's as well, the new "Super" is quite a bit less $ than the D4R..I'm curious why  ???

Thanks!
Rob
 
Fist, I would also throw the Akeda in your comparison.  I went through the same comparison a few years ago, and ended up with the Leigh D4.  So far, I am very pleased.  It requires a little more tweaking and setup than other jigs, but is probably the most versatile. 

Do a Google search for reviews and comparisons.  There is a lot of information available.  Each jig has its strengths and weaknesses, the trick is finding the best compromise. 
 
I have the Leigh D4R, Super 24 and the Keller which is similar to the Katie in some ways but I have the larger version.  I have owned the PC Omni in the past also so I guess I should be able to answer any of your questions about these jigs...  I don't and have not owned the new Omni-jig but have looked at it at the local Woodcraft.

In the past I would say the PC Omni was known as the ultimate production jig for evenly spaced half blind dovetails...it is built like a tank and once set up virtually foolproof which makes it ideal for a small shop producing fairly standard sizes of cabinet drawers. They offered other templates to do other joints but they were costly and didn't offer the ultimate flexibility of the Leigh jigs.  The new version has tried to make it easier to use for all these different joints but it still has a lot of adjustments to deal with and I am sure it cannot do all the Leigh D4R can do. It would perhaps be best to be compared to the Leigh Super 24 in capabilities.

The Leigh D4R is the ultimate in capability and flexibility and can use all the Leigh add-on templates including the finger joints and iso-lock templates. It also allows the user to truly variable space the joints within the limits of the width of the joint fingers.  There are a few add on templates including a mortise and tenon one, finger joint jig and the iso-lock jigs.  If you bought everything for this jig including all the bits and templates you could end up spending over $1500 probably. But the basic unit delivers a ton of capability that is a lot of what most users need without adding on any of the other templates, yet they are there if you need them later on down the road.

The Super jigs are Leigh's attempt to be easier to use and more directly compete with and against the PC Omni.  It uses single piece fingers in place of the 2 piece ones on the D4R uses and therefore the tails of the dovetail l joint are always limited to the size of the bit where they are variable width on the D4R.  Leigh found that most people don't vary the tail width so they eliminated that on the Super jigs which makes things simpler to use and setup. The Super jigs also do the single pass half blind dovetails which the PC Omni has been the standard for all these years.  That was a new capability for the Leigh jigs as they had never really done the single passers in the past, although you could sort of tightly space things and do two passes...on the D series jigs.  The Supers also do 2 sizes of Finger joints out of the box and use the E-bush technology for adjusting the finger joint fit.  Woodcraft has a great deal on the Super 24 and Super 18 this month which with the purchase includes 2 of their new clamps which are really nice and work with the MFT too.  See my separate post on that topic....

The Keller jigs are easy to use and can be used with a router table as the Katie jig can or be used with just a router.  They use machined templates and ball bearing guided bits and are easy to setup and use as well as very accurate too.  The limitation is that they are stuck with a set spacing of dovetails.  They do offer several different sizes of bits for thin and thicker wood.  They are available in several widths and can do carcase dovetails very easily.  I have the 24" and 2 sets of different sized cutters.  IIRC they can perhaps do some simple finger joints also...

One key consideration is if you want to do carcase dovetails or not. If so, get a 24" wide unit and if not a 12" will do most any drawer that is practical...

If you have any other questions just ask...

Best,
Notorious
 
I just bought the Leigh and I am very happy with it. We are doing some custom bookcases right now and the customers when they saw the samples of the isoloc joints really liked them commenting that they had never seen anything like it(its something that is very interesting looking); also, the leigh has not been that hard to set up and use. I produced three samples for the clients in about twenty minutes (through dovetails and isoloc joints).
I did tons of research and ended up going with the leigh  because I felt that it was the most versatile and the others just didnt seem like they had the same capabilities.
 
Mr. Robinson,

I also have been looking to purchase a dovetail jig.

The folks who designed the Sommerfeld Katie Jig seem to have adopted a philosophy similar to Festool in that, they apply the principle of moving the lighter element past the heavier.

In this case, instead of moving a tool with a spinning cutting device subject to torque rotation guided by your hands into a maze of fingers, you instead move the workpiece held in a jig, weight supported on a tabletop and slide it. The heavier and more difficult to control router is stationary and therefore less apt to arrive in the same place and time as your fingers.

It may not work for all applications or for all woodworkers, but I will look at this one before diving back to the more traditional bench mounted style. And then there is also the possibility of using the Domino. Hmmm....... 
 
Chowman said:
Mr. Robinson,

I also have been looking to purchase a dovetail jig.

The folks who designed the Sommerfeld Katie Jig seem to have adopted a philosophy similar to Festool in that, they apply the principle of moving the lighter element past the heavier.

In this case, instead of moving a tool with a spinning cutting device subject to torque rotation guided by your hands into a maze of fingers, you instead move the workpiece held in a jig, weight supported on a tabletop and slide it. The heavier and more difficult to control router is stationary and therefore less apt to arrive in the same place and time as your fingers.

It may not work for all applications or for all woodworkers, but I will look at this one before diving back to the more traditional bench mounted style. And then there is also the possibility of using the Domino. Hmmm....... 
Click to expand...

I think you may be assuming that the dovetail jig with the pieces being cut will be lighter and easier to move around on a router table than it can be in reality.  The wood sticking up some 15-20 inches above the table for a typical drawer and the fact that you are still wanting to see where the bit is cutting so you sort of have to look around the boards and the jig to see where you are cutting.  I personally find it easier to to just move a 6 pound router with a relatively low center of gravity over the top side of the jig with the boards secured tightly to the jig and a bench of some sort.  Also the Katie is really only designed to do drawers and is somewhat limited in that regard.  The larger keller jig that I have can be used on a router table but now you are pushing around a 24 inch wide aluminum jig with a slab of wood attached ... not the way I prefer to use it, but it is also big enough to do a case side dovetail.

So, you have to really think about what your needs are and how you are comfortable using the tool...and if you can try one out...  I have always thought that Leigh sort of cheats on their show demos of dovetails as they only do one corner...and that does not make a drawer.  So, anyone who shows one corner of a 4 corner drawer is not really showing what it really takes to make a draw or case with their tool.

Best,
Notorious
 
I agree that the Katie jig  does drawers really well. I like the way you do feed the wood into the router as opposed to the opposite. I can get variable spacing with the jig. You can change or move the "forks" as you need to. I'd say really the limitation would be the size of boards you can use in it, perfect for most drawers though. I like the new Omni-Jig too. I still might get that one someday. The other jigs, I really have no experience with, and cannot comment good, or bad for them.
 
hi rob, i have the leigh D4R and it is fantastic, i spent a few hours setting it up, but now i walk into my workshop, cut the timber, and within 10 minutes i am routing my first dovetail of the day.

my first tool box for the jig itself took me 30 minutes to router the tails and pins.
i have made about 50 or 60 boxes now, it takes me 15 minutes to router 1 box, and it is a pleasure to use every time.

it is more expensive than others, but i have mine for 6 months now and the initial cost does not bother me at all.
remember to get the VRS vacuum support also!

regards, justin.
 
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