festool & leigh dovetail jig

W

woodguy7

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Joined
Apr 26, 2009
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2,726
Hi everyone, been reading this forum for some time now but this is my first post so try not to be to hard on me if this has already been discussed.

I have a Leigh d 1600 dovetail jig & the collar that comes with it looks to me to be about 11mm o/d.  This will not fit onto my of 1400 without some form of uni-base (i have the trend one but it wont fit the festool).  Does Festool have a guide collar that will fit straight onto the 1400 & is the same size as the Leigh one.  If the 1010 is a better choice for this, i will go out & get one.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Woodguy.
 
Hi woodguy and welcome. This is a hard question to answer.  "it looks to me to be about 11mm o/d." that doesn't seem close enough for the precision necessary for any guide system. But I will tell you that my preference for  dovetail jigs is the OF1100. It is light weight and "comfy" when using it with any guide finger type setup. I think the one hand on the main grip allows you to push the unit in and out and the other hand on the elevation lock grip just makes working more accurate and less tiring.
  May I suggest the best way to answer your question is y visiting a Festool dealer with Leigh d1600 jig in hand. Or call the Festool service number that you can find at the Festool website (www.festoolusa.com).
 
Hi John & thanks for that.  I will speak to my Festool guy tomorrow to see if he can help.  I will have a look at the 1100.  This Festool thing is very addictive !  1 year ago i bought the ts55 with 3 tracks, since then i have got the ro150, dts400, domino + full systainer, of1400, hl850 planer, kapex & the 3m guide rail.  I just cant help myself  :-\
 
woodguy7 said:
Hi everyone, been reading this forum for some time now but this is my first post so try not to be to hard on me if this has already been discussed.

I have a Leigh d 1600 dovetail jig & the collar that comes with it looks to me to be about 11mm o/d.  This will not fit onto my of 1400 without some form of uni-base (i have the trend one but it wont fit the festool).  Does Festool have a guide collar that will fit straight onto the 1400 & is the same size as the Leigh one.  If the 1010 is a better choice for this, i will go out & get one.

Any help would be much appreciated,

Woodguy.
Click to expand...

I have the leigh d4r and the of1400 and my colars fit just fine? I just used it the other day.  It will also take my other Portercable inserts.  I would say either your insert is off or the festool insert is off.  It should fit like a glove mine does
 
Just to answer my own question, i spoke to my Festool dealer about the collar for the Leigh dovetail jig & he says it is an extra accessory.  Got it ordered & should get it in about a week.  I only got the 30mm guide bush with my of1400 & i think the one for the Leigh is 10.8mm or summit.
 
bonesbr549 said:

I have the leigh d4r and the of1400 and my colars fit just fine? I just used it the other day.  It will also take my other Portercable inserts.  I would say either your insert is off or the festool insert is off.  It should fit like a glove mine does
Click to expand...

Bones,

I have the orginal D4 (24") and a 1400.  I have not used them together yet.  Frm your experience, do you think I will have a problem?

Thanks.

Neill
 
Like i just said Neil, I only received a 30mm collar with my of1400 & the collar that comes with my Leigh jig is 10.8mm.  The Leigh collar needs to be screwed on the base of the router, where as you know the festool ones click in to slots.  Like my dealer said, they are available as an extra for about ?9.00.

If its the propper collar, then i am happy to pay for it as i am sure it will work together perfect.

p.s - sorry Neil, just noticed you were speaking to bones.
 
woodguy7 said:
Like i just said Neil, I only received a 30mm collar with my of1400 & the collar that comes with my Leigh jig is 10.8mm.  The Leigh collar needs to be screwed on the base of the router, where as you know the festool ones click in to slots.  Like my dealer said, they are available as an extra for about ?9.00.

If its the propper collar, then i am happy to pay for it as i am sure it will work together perfect.

p.s - sorry Neil, just noticed you were speaking to bones.
Click to expand...

Woodguy,

That's OK.  I just wondered if there was a difference in the collars provided with the different models of jigs ( I have had mine for about 10 years).  Thanks, I get it now.  Had not even thought about the screw in vs. the snap in.

I addressed my question to Bones since he had the D4.  But wow!  $79 for a collar.  Must be made out of my wife's gold jewelry I had to sell so I could buy more Festools.  ;)

Neill
 
Sorry, its 9 pounds sterling.  When i put a pound symbol in it came out as a question mark. Dunno why.  As much as i love Festool, i wouldnt give 79 dollars or pounds for a collar  :'(
 
From what I understand, the festool "guide bush mounter" (e.g. the plate that clips into the OF1400, and has a hole in the middle to screw the Leigh guide bush) ships as standard in the US, but in Europe (UK for me) you have to buy it extra.

Works fine, I have the Leigh D4R and use it with the OF1400.. I will be getting the OF1010 though as the 1400 is a bit top heavy and big, and my leigh bits are 8mm shank so will fit the OF1010
 
That makes sense.  Its a pity they dont supply it as standard here in the uk though.  I know what you mean about the 1400 being top heavy.  I am also going to get the 1010 for exactly the same reason.
 
woodguy7 said:
Sorry, its 9 pounds sterling.  When i put a pound symbol in it came out as a question mark. Dunno why.  As much as i love Festool, i wouldnt give 79 dollars or pounds for a collar  :'(
Click to expand...

Woodguy,

Time to stop buying Festools and get myself to the nearest eye doctor.  I guess a ? looks a little like a 7 when you look at quickly with 4 eyes. :)

Neill
 
Neil,

Looking at the list of festools you have, you prob dont need any more, but if anything like me you "want" more.

The good old black & green addiction  ;)

woodguy
 
Neill said:
bonesbr549 said:

I have the leigh d4r and the of1400 and my collars fit just fine? I just used it the other day.  It will also take my other Portercable inserts.  I would say either your insert is off or the festool insert is off.  It should fit like a glove mine does
Click to expand...

Bones,

I have the original D4 (24") and a 1400.  I have not used them together yet.  Frm your experience, do you think I will have a problem?

Thanks.

Neill
Click to expand...

Idon't know about the d4 but to my knowledge the collar is no different.  You could check with the leigh site to see.  I just got in so it will be tomorrow but I'll check. I did not have an issue.  I'll measure my collar tomorrow stay tuned.
 
I've never liked using plunge routers and collars where the bit doesn't clear the collar.

This is a disaster waiting to happen.  I think fixed base routers are a better tool for use with a dovetail jig.  I'm assuming the Festool dovetail jig is designed with the collar ID to be greater than the OD of the dovetail bit.

A lot of dovetail jig collars have an ID that is smaller than the OD of the dovetail bit being used.  I forget about the Leigh system.  I had it for awhile but switched to Akeda for machined dovetails.
 
Tim Sproul said:
A lot of dovetail jig collars have an ID that is smaller than the OD of the dovetail bit being used.  I forget about the Leigh system.  I had it for awhile but switched to Akeda for machined dovetails.
Click to expand...

The Leigh system is one indeed where you can "reverse" plunge you bit straight into the collar. I always make sure I lock my plunge height tight first!
 
Neill said:
bonesbr549 said:

I have the leigh d4r and the of1400 and my colars fit just fine? I just used it the other day.  It will also take my other Portercable inserts.  I would say either your insert is off or the festool insert is off.  It should fit like a glove mine does
Click to expand...

Bones,

I have the orginal D4 (24") and a 1400.  I have not used them together yet.  Frm your experience, do you think I will have a problem?

Well I finally had time to go down dig it out and take pics.  I'll include the small versions here if you want some high def stuff shoot me an e-mail.  Others have commented that a plunge router needs locked down, because this bit coming up into that collar would be bad, but then that's a no brainer.  Lock it down and the 1400 will not move.  The big diff between the d4 and the d4r was they changed the edge guides and made the base a single machined piece of alum.  I've had my 1400 a short time and here is the results (project not finished yet)

Thanks.

Neill
Click to expand...
[attachimg=#]
 
Tim Sproul said:
JeromeM said:
Tim Sproul said:
I've never liked using plunge routers and collars where the bit doesn't clear the collar.

This is a disaster waiting to happen.
--- SNIP ---
Click to expand...

If you use a Fine Height Adjuster  http://www.trend-uk.com/en/JA/productlist/3/203/fine_height_adjusters.html
There is no problem at all. I've been using one for 30 years  :o
Click to expand...

I think you've just turned an expensive plunge router into a fixed base router...... ;)
Click to expand...

I use it with my original Elu MOF 96 so may be.  :-*

But I keep the accuracy and price of a dedicated plunge router with a fine exact non plunge depth setting. The change between the 2 is fast & always trouble free. Not to mention that in the UK 35 years ago fixed base routers were as common as hen's teeth  :o
 
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