joinery system — Sandal Woods

November 19, 2011 By Al Navas

Invert the R9Plus joinery jig at the router table

A joinery jig that works well both right-side-up, and also upside-down, is a huge plus. I have already shown the Leigh R9Plus “right-side-up”. It worked great. But I was curious about the upside-down configuration, on the router table. I was in for a surprise, as it is a breeze to use this way, although it took me a bit to get used to feeding the jig into the router bit. How is that for a total newbie?

A huge plus of doing the joinery using this jig on the router table is dust collection (DC). I was pleasantly surprised, as nearly 100% of the dust and chips were taken by the DC system I have on the old router table. I just wish I could use this jig on the Laguna cast iron router table. But, without the proper insert, it is impossible to use the eBush designed to work with the R9Plus. I will follow up with the people at Laguna Tools, to see if it is possible to machine some inserts to use on their router table, and I will my readers know.

Here we go: the R9Plus on the router table, as I get to know it in this configuration. What do you think?

My personal opinion: This will be terrific, especially for very large work pieces, as it becomes trivial to make sure the work piece IS flush under the template. Or, should that be ON the template?

Stability: Used upside-down, the wide template rides on the surface of the router table, stabilizing the work piece. I must try this with a very large and wide board. I will report results.

I love it!

Disclosure: Leigh sends me jigs on occasion, for testing and evaluation.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Dovetails, Finger joints, Jigs, Joinery, R9PLUS, Video Tagged With: joinery system, R9PLUS, router table

November 18, 2011 By Al Navas

New video about a new joinery system

I received an e-mail from Leigh, letting me know about a new video just posted on YouTube. The video is about their new R9Plus joinery jig, and was produced to show in a few minutes what it is capable of doing.

I have been posting about this new jig; but the new video does a wonderful job showing it in the context of a 30-year historical perspective. It is amazing to me how much joinery systems have evolved, and how this manufacturer has managed to create a new jig loaded with features, at a great price point.

Enjoy the video!

I have set up the R9Plus to machine dovetails and finger joints at the router table. Stay tuned for more!

Disclosure: Leigh sometimes provides equipment to me, for evaluation and testing.

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Jigs, Joinery, R9PLUS, Video Tagged With: Dovetails, Finger joints, joinery system, Leigh, R9PLUS, Video

November 11, 2011 By Al Navas

The Leigh R9Plus jig, Part 2. Final preparations

In this episode:

Optimizing workholding of the beam by changing out the right-hand Leigh surface clamp for the Leigh bench clamp. This done, the beam slid to the left, and workholding is solid. Now I have no more concerns that the beam will slip during operation; before, the tips of the clamps were simply too close to the edges at the ends of the beam. Why? Because I did not have a hole on the workbench to install a second surface clamp on the left-hand side of the the beam – I had a bench clamp on the left, in a dog hole.
Tuning the R9Plus jig by using the sides top to adjust the template position precisely. Once properly adjusted, not even a thin piece of paper will fit between the work piece and the side stop while the work piece is flush under the template.
A great tip: Making the writing visible on the side stop – use chalk!
Tip: Learn proper marking of the work pieces. You will be glad you did! I remember the early days, and not being able to keep track of board orientation. What a nightmare that was! But I learned quickly that using the Leigh way of marking boards is the absolute best; and I still use it today. I suggest you use it, too.