What accessories for Leigh Dovetail Jig?

[butzla]

I have an OF1400 and a 1010.  What exact accessories including bits are needed for my Leigh jig?  I haven't used it since my pre-festool days (I'm more a lock-miter guy).  I have a client who wants dovetailed drawers.  I looked on my Festool supplier's website and there's a myriad of choices for copying rings. 
Also, which router's the best choice for dovetailing?  I'm leaning towards the 1010 for it's lower center of gravity. 

 

[justinmcf]

hi stoolman, the of1010 will work beautifully with the leigh dovetail jig.

i also recommend the leigh vrs vacuum support.

as far as accessories and copy rings go. you should talk to your local leigh jig supplier.  they will sell you the copy ring to suit the routers you will use.

btw, i use the of1400 with the leigh fmt.

regards, justin.

 

[Neill]

Stoolman,

You might want to check with Highland Hardware's website.  A number of years ago I bought a boxed set of router bits designed specifically to work with the Leigh Dovetail Jig.  It included dovetail and straight bits of various sizes, Collet inserts and rings.  They also can provide you with any other accessories.  They carry a rather large supply in stock.  Very nice to deal with and great service.

Neill

 

[bonesbr549]

I have an OF1400 and a 1010.  What exact accessories including bits are needed for my Leigh jig?  I haven't used it since my pre-festool days (I'm more a lock-miter guy).   I have a client who wants dovetailed drawers.  I looked on my Festool supplier's website and there's a myriad of choices for copying rings. 
Also, which router's the best choice for dovetailing?  I'm leaning towards the 1010 for it's lower center of gravity. 

I can only speak to what I use.  I have the OF1400 and the D4R.  The standard bits that came with it worked fine and I used the standard Brass inserts.  Worked flawlessly.  The VRS is a fantastic addition.  The dc is fantastic and the extra base for the router to fit on is great.  However I will also note that you could do it just as easy with an onld PC 690.  I set up two routers one for the pins and one for the tails.  Make sure you lock those posts down.  You would not want to have that slip up (if you have the DT bit in).  Other than that, works great. 

 

[RONWEN]

Definitely get the VRS support, it works great as an outboard support and collects ~80-90% of the chips (I use the CT33 with a Dust Deputy and boom arm).  Leigh's #80-8 8 degree cutter along with their #140-8 straight cutter (both have 8mm shanks) do well up to 3/4" stock -- use a 7/16" guide bushing.  I use my Bosch 1617 with a clear accessory base from Woodcraft so I can see what is going on.  I've considered a second Bosch router for (as someone else suggested) having one for tails and one for pins.
I use the 1400 with my Leigh FMT jig -- You must use a plunge router with the FMT and the 1400 is the best.

 

[mattfc]

I have an OF1400 and a 1010.  What exact accessories including bits are needed for my Leigh jig?  I haven't used it since my pre-festool days (I'm more a lock-miter guy).   I have a client who wants dovetailed drawers.  I looked on my Festool supplier's website and there's a myriad of choices for copying rings. 
Also, which router's the best choice for dovetailing?  I'm leaning towards the 1010 for it's lower center of gravity. 

Right, a couple of things to be aware of. The OF1400 and 1100 both require a different Festool mounting plates. Leigh provide the guide bush (2 part brass thing that screws together), but you need the inserts for the router. It depends on where you bought the router as to what Festool provide you with, this chart should help:
http://www.leighjigs.com/download/GBChart_Master_Feb4%2009.pdf
In the UK neither come with the router so I have bought them. In terms of use, the OF1100 is less top heavy and much nicer to use, but depends on the cutters. For larger stock (Leigh manuals show you what bit to use for what stock), the shank size is too big for the OF1100 (e.g. for >20mm you need the 1/2" shank bits).
I have the VRS attachement, which apart from keeping things tidy extraction wise, adds a valuable additional support surface

 

[mattfc]

Oh and I forgot.. for guide bush concentricity reasons.. its a bad idea to use two routers.. you will get alignment issues. Depends ofcourse how accurate you want things

 

[butzla]

Thanks for all the input, guys.  I didn't realize Leigh bushings would fit Festool routers.  I should have mentioned.  I've had my Leigh jig for 15 years.  It's the older 24" model with knobs instead of cam-locks.  Still works but mostly I build cabinets so I've been using a lock miter joint for my drawers.  Been gathering a lot of dust and a little rust.

 

[bonesbr549]

Oh and I forgot.. for guide bush concentricity reasons.. its a bad idea to use two routers.. you will get alignment issues. Depends ofcourse how accurate you want things

There's no issue with two routers if you use a cone to ensure you center the bit in the bushing plate.  It was dead on on my of1400.  The PC 890 and 690 needed centering but the center cone does the trick.  Too much of pa PIA to do each and switch.  I've used two router since the get go, and never had an issue.  Once you make your test cuts and line it in, it's a piece of cake.  The VRS was a great addition to the setup. 

 

[butzla]

I was always a big proponent of the 2 router setup.  Then I started to just make 1/2 blind dovetails in the back of the drawer too.  It's so much easier.  But 2 routers for through dovetails for sure.