Fall 2021 Product Showcase: Leigh Super 18

Leigh dovetail jig. This is their 18-inch jig. And I've used Leigh jigs for a long time. And one of the things that I really like about it is the wide array of things that they bring to the table. The wide array of things that they offer through dovetails, half-blind dovetails, the ability to variable space the dovetails. And there's just, there's a lot of stuff going on here. The owner's manual for these jigs is incredible and very, very easy to follow, very, very easy to work with. The other thing that's really cool. Running a dovetail jig, you tend to end up getting a lot of stuff right in the bread basket. A lot of dust, it's throwing a lot of stuff forward. So there is a dust collection attachment on this. It does two things, really good job picking up the dust coming off, and it stabilizes the router. And again, from teaching a lot of woodworking classes, one of the mistakes I've seen people make is, as they come back on the dovetail jig with their router, that can have a tendency to tip off if they're not paying close attention. So this dust collection bar out here also stabilizes the router so that that can't tip and then mess up your workpiece. For this one, on the video we did ahead of time, we've got some joinery that's done there, and you'll have the opportunity to see the effectiveness of that dust shroud. So let's take a peek at that video we've got. Something that I've seen happen many, many, many times with furniture is people look at it and they open the drawers and they look at the drawers. And what they're doing is they're looking to see if there are dovetails in the drawers. Dovetails in woodworking have really become a mark of good craftsmanship in the piece that people are looking at or the piece that people are building. I'm telling that story, because today I want to walk you through the Leigh Super 18. Now, couple of things, this is 18. That means it's the 18-inch model. That's its capacity. Could be down to a 12, up to a 24. So you can match the jig to what size of work you're gonna typically be doing. We're gonna do a bunch of different things on here. We're gonna start with half-blind dovetails. The layout that we're gonna do is gonna be evenly spaced, just like this. One of the things that's really cool about the Leigh jig is you can also move the fingers around and do variable spacing. So we could also do variable space half-blind dovetails, and we can also do variable space through dovetails, where of course we can see the joint from both sides. So, this isn't designed to be a real specific how-to step-by-step, but I want to give you an overview, a feel for how the jig works so that you have a better understanding of it. So again, one thing we've got going for us here is that the fingers can be loosened and then moved. So that, as opposed to jigs where the comb is in a fixed position, we can move these fingers to have whatever layout we want. The other thing I really like about the jig is that it's very, it's set up very well, where it gives us information right on the comb that helps us know what mode we're in, what dimension we should be set at. So that layout is really, really nice. And the other cool thing is there's a cheat sheet that actually just stores under the jig. And there's all sorts of information there that helps you with the setup. So if it's a little bit of time between uses, you can refer to this in order to know where to go and what to do. And I'll also say Leigh has always had amazing owner's manuals, where everything is very well laid out. The images are great. The step-by-step is great. So, lots of good stuff here, lots of support to help make it easier for you to use the jig. Here's where we're at right now. Half-blind dovetails. We're set up to make this happen. Like many, many dovetail jigs, the Leigh jig relies on a guide bushing. That guide bushing projects from the base of the router. Then that's what's gonna follow the template, follow the fingers as we trace them so that the bit itself can't cut into our jig. Of course, when I'm doing this kind of thing, I've got the router unplugged. Another cool thing about the jig is this accessory. This is gonna do two things for us. Sitting here, it's gonna help support the router so that it can't tip in this direction. If the router tips down, it can mess up your joint. The other thing that's cool about it is that I will put a vacuum hose on it. And what that's gonna do is grab the stuff that would normally be blowing off of here all over the front of my shirt. So let me get this in the right spot. And then this tracks with the router, and that's what my shop vacuum hose is gonna connect to. So where I'm at with this is... Half-inch, 14-degree router bit. The depth on that is already set. And what I'll be able to do is, in one fell swoop, cut both the tails and the pins and sockets. So the tailboard is in the jig vertically, the pin and socket board is in the jig horizontally. We're gonna get everything cut in one pass looking like this. One thing that's definitely noteworthy is I don't have chips all over the front of my shirt 'cause the dust collection on this works so well. Now, let me pop that off, the dust collection accessory. And there you can really see now our half blind. There are the tails, pins and sockets are there. And again, all cut in one pass. And proof being in the pudding, let's do this. Now let's have a look at when we go from half blind to through dovetails. Everything is done with the same set of fingers, with the same comb. And what's neat about the way Leigh has labeled these things is we can configure this. And then all we got to do is kind of look at the roadmap right there, 'TD Pins,' through dovetail pins. That'll tell us when we're ready to be in the pin configuration versus the tail configuration. So next thing we're gonna do is look at through dovetails on the Super 18. As I move toward doing through dovetails, let's look at a couple of things here. I've talked about the ability to move the fingers around, make variable space joints, variable space dovetails. So the way that works is simply by loosening the finger, and then we can slide that. In this case, I've got my material in here, and this is the starting point for a through dovetail. I'd get a board in here. I would start putting my fingers on, and then, or fingers in place. And then, as you move these, a great way to do this is use a uniform spacer block, like bar stock, in order to create the spacing that you want. So I would use this as I come in from the right. Use this as I come in from the left so that I'm creating uniform spacing on those. And by uniform spacing, I mean, you can look, or you can see by looking at these, I used 3/8 bar stock out here, eighth-inch bar stock here. So it's uniform, but variable, which is cool. Then, when I look at my roadmap, this is through dovetail pins. That's not where I want to be. We want to be on tails first. So that's simple. We take this off. Look for tails, right there. Set and set. And that, all that information is in the owner's manual about where do I set? And for this cut, I've got a dovetail bit in the router. And again, with our guide bushing, the guide bushing is what's gonna follow those fingers so that the bit doesn't have the opportunity to cut into the comb. There are our tails. Now, I'm gonna end up moving the comb for our next cut. So let me go ahead and pull that off there so you can see better. There are our tails. Next step, we're gonna flip this into the pin position. I have to change router bits too, and then we'll make our pins and sockets. It's pretty cool. Here's where we're at. I switched to the through-dovetail pin mode, which is pins and sockets, and then the position of the fingers forward and back is what controls the size of the sockets, the fit of the joint. All of that's very well explained in the owner's manual. Where that leaves us now is pins and sockets are cut. There we go, through dovetail. And this is what we want, a little bit of overhang there, trim that off after the glue is dry. So, just a little overview here of how the Leigh jigs work, how they make dovetails. And I'm so impressed with the vacuum collection on this, the dust collection, and the fact, the stability that that adds to the router when I'm in that forward position out here, before I'm initiating the cut, so that I don't give the opportunity to the router for it to tip a little bit. So that's a look at how they work and what they do. So, cool stuff there. And what didn't get covered on that video is with this jig, you can also do finger joints and sliding dovetails as well. And again, laid out very, very, very well in the owner's manual. I love the ability to vary the spacing. I think for, I am not a hand tool, dovetail cutting kind of a guy. So I love to be able to emulate the look of those hand-cut dovetails by creating variable spacing on the jig. Yeah, I agree. And I am more of a hand-cut dovetail person, and I've always done that because I felt that I could get more creativity and variability in it. And you know, when I look at this, I think they've solved all of that. There's nothing that I have ever done in hand-cut dovetailing that I couldn't do with this tool. But faster. But faster. And I've never, ever gotten a fit. I don't know what I would do with my gallons of wood filler that I go through when I cut them by hand. So, no, absolutely, faster and way more precise. The Leigh jig is a really nice setup. Good capacity, a really, really great way to cut dovetails plus a big variety of other joints.