Dovetail decision

[pdacey08]

Can pick up an almost new PC 4216 Super Jig on CL for $100 or buy the Leigh Super 12" at Woodcraft for $275.

I know what the responses will be but is the Leigh worth the additional $175??

This is for personal/hobby use.

[paarker]

Do they both do the same thing? If so it might be more of a hassle at first with the cheapest but nice you learn how to use it it might not be so bad. I have no experience with either of those so I can't comment on that.

[rwe2156]

A 7 degree bevel blade and a sled for tails + hand saw and chisels for pins are much cheaper.

And faster if you're only doing a few drawers.

;-)

[Curlycherry]

For me the Leigh is the only way to go. You can toss in any width board and adjust the spacing of the tails to match the board. PC half-blinds require specific widths of boards.

[fredhargis]

The adjustable fingers would be a big plus, don't know if that's worth $175 to you. Not only does that allow for boards the width you want to use, but you can vary the pins/tails size across the board which can have a nice effect.

[Curlycherry]

The adjustable fingers would be a big plus, don't know if that's worth $175 to you. Not only does that allow for boards the width you want to use, but you can vary the pins/tails size across the board which can have a nice effect.

Just to clairfy, the Super 12 jig has fingers that do not separate so the tail widths are fixed. Only the D4R Pro has split fingers.

https://www.leighjigs.com/superjigs.php

[fredhargis]

Oops, sorry.....

[wing nut]

good dovetail saw and set of chisles.
half blinds no problem.

[Gary™]

good dovetail saw and set of chisles.
half blinds no problem.

I have a Leigh D24 and I'd rather hand cut dovetails.

[mdhills]

I'd recommend asking the seller to demonstrate any jig before you buy.
And what is your goal with dovetails?

The porter-cable jigs are pretty easy to use to get a basic half-blind dovetail joint.  This is a good choice for batching out drawers in solid wood.

For recent shop work, I've been doing through dovetails by hand.  This is more personally satisfying, but I wouldn't care to be doing high volume, and my consistency isn't (yet) machine-like.


Matt