Let’s Talk Dovetail Jigs - Follow-Up

[Wilsoncb]

It seems dovetails joints are somewhat of a milestone for woodworking. It’s one of those features that many people use as a benchmark for quality. Let’s face it, they look pretty cool as well. So recently I got an old Craftsman jig and thought I would give it a go. It took about 8 tries, but finally got it dailed in. The hardest part was getting the router bit height adjusted just right. The jig worked OK, but the clamp knobs are so small it was difficult to get tight enough without using a pliers. With that in mind I recently found a Woodstock jig with cam type clamps. The instructions caution you to not over tighten as this will move the pieces out of alignment. I found the pieces were not held sufficiently until they reached the point where they moved. I was able to mis-align the piece so it would be in alignment after they moved. Ultimately, not satisfied with either one these.

After reading some reviews I found most people had a similar experience and eventually found a Port Cable jig that worked better. In my search I also found a jig from Woodhaven that was designed to be used on a table instead of the hand held approach the others used. This looks like it would give you more control and stability. I find it much easier to adjust the bit height on a table as well.

Does anyone have a Woodhaven jig, or made something similar? It looks like it would be easy to make with the exception of the template.

7660 Large Half-Blind Router Table Dovetail Jig w/Bit

Cut half-blind 90° 7/8" on-center dovetail joints typical for drawer work in 1/2" to 3/4" thick stock up to 11-3/4" wide. Includes carbide 14° dovetail bit..

woodhaven.com

 

[Mike Davis]

I have one that a friend copied for me. It is made of either plywood or MDF. It’s been so long I can’t remember. You are welcome to copy mine. Then you would just have to buy the bits to match.

Now, I cut all my dovetails by hand. I think they are much nicer looking and are more reliable than the router setup. However, I rarely cut more than a few drawers or a single box at a time.

 

[Henry W]

I have a Leigh jig, bought off a member here; forget the model # but it was top of the line or very close to it. Took a while to figure out, but it worked flawlessly when I needed it. Clamping and part shifting was not an issue - at least not as I recall it.

They use a set bit height as I recall (their bit) and an eccentric bushing (that did need to be dialed in) to control spacing. I needed customer support on something (don't recall what); they answered the phone immediately (west coast time) and I was in touch with a product expert who knew what I needed to do.

 

[Berta]

I have the Porter Cable jig. It works fine. I have also attended the hand cut dovetail workshop by Mike Davis. He made me stay after class and try again. I did finally make it by hand. I went home and kissed my Porter cable jig. My hand cut dovetails are on a shelf So I can say I did it!

 

[Canuck]

I have the Leigh Super 12" jig and find that I get no slipping of stock once clamped in place. After using the Porter Cable jig for a number of years; I ended up replacing it with the Leigh. I was looking for a jig that offered variable spacing of the pins and tails. In addition to this feature, I got the dust collection accessory which makes things tidier and allows good visibility of the bit travel.

 

[Keye]

Years ago when I was making lots of drawers, using case construction, making through and half blind dove tails I had 2 Leigh D4 jigs. One was setup for repeat use, I can not even remember what I was making. I had a porter cable router and Leigh bit which I never changed. The D4 settings were never changed. I would pull out the D4 and PC and start cutting. The other D4 I used for none repeat work, I had to set it up each time. I found the Leigh jig to be a really good product. I had one problem which it took me a while to figure out. If you are using longer stock the weight puts a downward force on the jig and can affect the quality of the joint. I bought adjustable height stock supports and it solved the problem. I left woodworking for a nember of years because I could not afford horses and woodworking. This is the only reason I sold the D4's. Now I wish I had one of the D4's back.

 

[Charlie Buchanan]

If I were buying a jig it would have to be one with variable spacing. Nothing uglier than a set of cookie cutter dovetails that aren’t harmonious with the depth of a drawer.

 

[Dave Richards]

Like Charlie, I'm not a fan of the comb-type dovetail jigs. I don't like the zipper tooth look or the issues associated with the fixed spacing. I'm also not a fan of carbide dovetail cutters. They result in what look like obese pins to me. There are HSS dovetail cutters that result in thinner sockets/pins which I think look better. Not all dovetail jigs will work with them, though.

My thinking about dovetail joints is that they are kind of fussy to make. They aren't required for strong corner joints. There are easier joinery methods for that, especially with the glues we have available to us now. So if you're going to use dovetails, I think they need to be aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Wilsoncb]

Thanks for all the comments. I had not seen the Leigh jig until Henry (and Keye) mentioned it . Looks like they are in a league of their own. Every component of their jigs looks to be heavier and higher precision than even the Porter Cable. Of coarse like all good things, it comes at a price. They also have a basic kit that is almost exactly what I was looking for. The TD330 is basically the template, bits, stops and guide bushing. You make your own fence. The thing that impressed me was the bushing. It's an elliptical shape that allows you to turn it one way or the other to increase or decrease the tightness of the fit. The only down side is the TD330 won't do half blind.

TD330 Jig | Rout classic through dovetails at a price that fits any budget

The Leigh TD330 makes routing classic through dovetails easy and affordable. Make perfect boxes and drawers for any project.

www.leightools.com

The other unit I found that works on a router table was the General Tools unit. It's smaller, but seems pretty decent for the price. It does half blind and (sort of) does through type (it's like if you would do a half blind all the way through your piece).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007E9IMP0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[zdorsch]

Check eBay and FB marketplace. Leigh jigs come up on there frequently for a lot less money than new. I bought older D series that had been upgraded with new parts for $250 with shipping s few years ago.

The other nice feature of Leigh dovetail jigs is that you can update them to the latest features. For example you can buy new fingers for the older jigs or they provide instructions on modifying your old to allow for single pass blind dovetails.

 

[red]

I too have the Leigh dovetail jig. Mine is the 24". It works great but there is a learning curve. Once you get it setup to your liking it works awesome. I use mine every now and then and it's super easy. Leigh makes great dovetail jigs.

Red

 

[JimD]

I haven't looked at how they are made these days but I happily use an old Harbor Freight half blind jig for drawers. I make the drawer heights multiples of 7/8 inches so I do not have to worry about fractional dovetails. I did not like the apparently cast aluminum finger guide that came with my jig or it's one inch spacing so I bought one from Grizzly. I think I had to enlarge one hole or something to bolt it on. Nice machined aluminum for about $20 at the time. The HF jig I have is mostly steel and is set up like the Woodhaven jig. I have it mounted to a jig to raise the height when it is on a benchtop and the riser has a drawer drawer for setup jigs (one is for the router bit height). I've used other jigs, even made one from scratch, but I like the HF best (with a new finger template).

I admit the dovetails it makes are obviously machine made to any woodworker but they are also strong. They are so easy to do I dovetail the backs on too.

 

[bob vaughan]

I'm still using a Sears dovetail jig I got in the late 1970s. Yes, I've done some modifications to make it easier to use.
The advantage of using the router-made dovetail jigs is that one can use 5/8" thick red oak drawer sides. Friction over the years wears the drawer sides so a thicker hard wood for the sides makes good mechanical sense for long term use.
Too often I see hand cut dovetailed drawer sides that are made of thin spongewood like white pine or poplar. Decades back I did a lot of antique restorations and came to dislike this method. The drawers eventually became floppy parallelograms. I'd have to rout the bottom edge and glue on strips of maple or other hard wood.

 

[bob vaughan]

Here's some modifications I've made to my old Sears dovetail jig.
A note about routers: The best router will be one with both bearing housed in metal for rigidity.

 

[MarkDarby]

I use a porter cable. Still having issues with the pin board not aligning with the tail board. Some, not all, are off about 1/16”. Can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

 

[Rwe2156]

I'd have to think long and hard before sinking that much money into a Leigh jig, but for some people it's a good solution I guess. I'm always averse to an expensive tool sitting on the shelf 98% of it's life, and then me having to re-learn how to use it all over. I've got an Incra box joint jig I haven't used in 5 years.

Re: jigs, I gave up on them a long time ago, partly b/c I felt it was "cheating" but seriously, it took me so long to get the thing tweaked, I finally got rid of it in frustration. Probably me but I despised the old Porter Cable jig so much I gave it away.

Since then, I do them by hand and lately I've been using the Katz Moses magnetic saw guide with a Ryoba saw and I'll tell you, guys - I'm sold on it. I can saw out 40 tails in the time it takes me to set up a jig and they are as accurate as heck. Same with the pins, but you have to be a bit more careful on where you place the saw guide.

If I've got a whole bunch to do, I cut the tails on the table saw using a specially ground rip blade, teeth all ground to 7°. Super, super clean, and very, very fast. Still do the pins by hand, but a jig for them can also be made.

 

[Wilsoncb]

I use a porter cable. Still having issues with the pin board not aligning with the tail board. Some, not all, are off about 1/16”. Can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

It depends on the type of joinery, half blind versus through. I just happened to be looking at the PC manual (trying to learn something). Hopefully this will help.

I’ve only tried the half blind so I can’t say for sure, but it seems the through type might be easier to troubleshoot. The problem I see with any of jigs and doing half blind joints is the depth is so critical. Since you are cutting both at the same time anything you are off is doubled. There are also a couple things that can mess up your depth, material thickness, guide plate flatness, router depth itself, holding router flat, holding router straight (@bob vaughan in the post above does a nice job of addressing some of these issues).

 

[Wilsoncb]

I'd have to think long and hard before sinking that much money into a Leigh jig, but for some people it's a good solution I guess. I'm always averse to an expensive tool sitting on the shelf 98% of it's life, and then me having to re-learn how to use it all over. I've got an Incra box joint jig I haven't used in 5 years.

Re: jigs, I gave up on them a long time ago, partly b/c I felt it was "cheating" but seriously, it took me so long to get the thing tweaked, I finally got rid of it in frustration. Probably me but I despised the old Porter Cable jig so much I gave it away.

I totally agree and feel the same way about the Festol Domino tool. For people who need them on a regular basis, I’m sure they are a great value. However for something that is seldom used not so much.

Thanks for sharing the video. This is again new knowledge that helps me find a solution that is right for me. Who would have thought there was a dovetail table saw blade !

 

[bob vaughan]

Lousy clamping pressure can allow the drawer parts to slip under the side thrust of the router bit. I had a lot of trouble with this until I started putting a block on the opposite end of the clamping bar. Too much compression on the non-active end will make for lopsided clamping pressure on the clamping bar.

 

[red]

With my Leigh dovetail jig, I keep a box full of my good test cuts and use them for setup next time I need the jig to do a similar thickness wood. Makes setup a breeze.

I too use a scrap of wood at the opposite end under the clamping bar especially since I have the 24" version.

Red