May 21, 2012

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Episode 16. Sliding dovetails on the Leigh D4R jig

May 28, 2008 By

Sliding dovetails are a great option when dealing with end grain joints, or with fixed shelves or dividers on a chest of drawers. I made a large sliding dovetail on the partition of the changing table I made some time ago (I used my old D4 jig, the predecessor to the D4R).

The D4R jig makes it simple and easy to create sliding dovetails:

  1. Select the router bit and a suitable guide bushing
  2. Route the dovetail slot – the board is clamped horizontally
  3. Route the tail at the same bit depth, and with the same router bit – the board is clamped vertically

To fine-tune the fit, adjust the tail size by moving the finger assembly either forward or backward in small increments. It is possible to make adjustments as small as 0.001″ (one thousand of an inch!).

Disclaimer: This is a Leigh-produced video, not my own production. My thanks to Leigh Industries for allowing me to post the jig video series on my blog.

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Filed Under: Blog, D4, Dovetails, Jigs, Joinery, Leigh jig Tagged With: , , ,

Episode 15. Half-blind dovetails on the Leigh D4R jig

May 24, 2008 By




This episode shows the detailed instructions to cut half-blind dovetails on the Leigh D4R jig.On half-blind dovetail joints, only one side shows. The D4R has specific scales to create these in three steps:

  1. Space the fingers to suit your taste – creating the joint design
  2. Route the tails using a suitable router bit, and with the board arranged vertically
  3. Route the pins with with the same router bit as was used to route the tails, and with the pin board clamped horizontally

Fine-tune the tail / pin fit by adjusting the bit height in the router, typically moving up just a few thousands of an inch. This will make the pins a little narrower, loosening the fit ever so slightly.

When I first started using my D4, this was the one adjustment that took me about an hour to master. The adjustment of the router bit is very small, to obtain the best fit!It IS truly this simple with the D4R!

I have used my old D4 for several years; by recording all the settings when I make a new box, I can return to the same setting(s) in just two minutes or less; in addition, I keep the old setup pieces I used when making the original adjustments for each router bit and wood thickness. I recommend you follow the same practice, and you will be quite happy with the results, no matter how much time passes between projects requiring half-blind dovetails.

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Filed Under: Blog, Box making, Dovetails, Leigh jig, Sponsor

Episode 14. Through dovetails on the Leigh D4R dovetail jig

May 23, 2008 By


This episode shows in detail the procedures to make through dovetails on the Leigh D4R jig. The steps are very simple:

  1. Arrange the guide pin spacing
  2. Route the tails
  3. Route the pins

The variable pin spacing makes the D4R a very versatile dovetail jig, allowing an almost infinite arrangement of dovetail spacing. In addition, this capability also allows setting half pins near the edge of the boards, which I find a neat feature.

As many of you know already, I love to make boxes – and the predecessor, the D4, is my go-to dovetail jig, exclusively.

The two episodes that follow will show the procedures to make half-blind dovetails and sliding dovetails.

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Filed Under: Blog, D4, Dovetails, Jigs, Leigh jig, Sponsor Tagged With: , , , ,

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