LEIGH D4R - Any tips on project?

[Bryan Berguson]

Here's the deal... I've just purchased a Leigh D4R and have used it to build a couple of test boxes. They both came out good btw. I made one out of butternut and used a backer board to prevent chipping which worked very well. I'm now going to build a blanket chest for my wife for christmas.

It will be made out of butternut that I had cut down and sawn. It's been stored in a barn for the past 12 years. The main box (dove tailed section) will be 19.5 inches high. The panels have been glued up and cut to size so I'm ready to start dove tail cutting.

Any last minute tips?

Bryan

[Jeff Norri]

If you have 1/4 shank bits upgrade to the 8mm - they work much better. Of course you don't see the 1/4 Leigh bits around much anymore - and there is a reason for it.

The other tip is don’t spin your router!!! Unless your bit is centered perfectly in you router and the collar of is also dead center, any rotation of your router will affect the fit of you DT's. It good to get in the practice of always of keeping your router in the same orientation for both the pins and tails when using it with the D4.

[Al Navas]

...I'm now going to build a blanket chest for my wife for christmas.

... The main box (dove tailed section) will be 19.5 inches high. The panels have been glued up and cut to size so I'm ready to start dove tail cutting.

Any last minute tips?...

Bryan,

What is the size of the boards in which you will be cutting the dovetails? You mentioned 19.5" tall/wide - how long will they be?

The reason I wonder: If the boards are very long, you might have to raise the D4:









I made the following changing table:



The main carcass is all through dovetails, and the partition is a 21-inch sliding dovetail.


.

[Bryan Berguson]

Jeff,

I have the 8mm bits already. I won't rotate the router - that is bad. Thanks! I've been using a 1.5 horse Dewalt for practice and it cuts okay but feels a little underpowered. I have a new Freud 3.25 horse that I bought for the jig but I haven't tried it yet. I'm going to cut some more practice joints with it before I try the big panels.

Al,

18 inches front to back, 36 wide. I have the jig high enough to make it work. My biggest concern is ruining one of my panels. The wood is limited not to mention the time involved in glue and dimensioning. Beautiful projects btw. Love your videos too!

Thanks guys!

Bryan

[Jeff Norri]

Jeff,

I have the 8mm bits already. I won't rotate the router - that is bad. Thanks! I've been using a 1.5 horse Dewalt for practice and it cuts okay but feels a little underpowered. I have a new Freud 3.25 horse that I bought for the jig but I haven't tried it yet. I'm going to cut some more practice joints with it before I try the big panels.

Al,

18 inches front to back, 36 wide. I have the jig high enough to make it work. My biggest concern is ruining one of my panels. The wood is limited not to mention the time involved in glue and dimensioning. Beautiful projects btw. Love your videos too!

Thanks guys!

Bryan

Bryan - if you do mess up a dovetail, you can always make the chest .5" shorter of course I would never do anything like that.

When I work with my Leigh I tend to leave all my parts a few inches long and use my actual parts for the test cuts, then trim them to size and do the real cuts.

[Bryan Berguson]

Bryan - if you do mess up a dovetail, you can always make the chest .5" shorter of course I would never do anything like that.

When I work with my Leigh I tend to leave all my parts a few inches long and use my actual parts for the test cuts, then trim them to size and do the real cuts.

Jeff,

Leaving them long is an excellant idea... Sure wish I'd heard that before I cut everything to size! Actually, they'd have to be shorter by .75" but that would throw my box out of square.

Okay, now a couple of other questions. With a box this size, would you make the pins wider or leave them the default one router bit width?

Also, when attaching the bottom/base, would you dado or rabbit the bottom into the case and then have an extra trim piece that protrudes out for the decorative trim or make the entire bottom that oversize and have the box sit on top of it?

Thanks

Bryan

[Al Navas]

...With a box this size, would you make the pins wider or leave them the default one router bit width?...

Bryan,

My preference is to progressively increase the spacing, starting narrow near the edge, with larger spacing toward the center of the board - I hope you can see well enough in this shot:






.

[Bryan Berguson]

It looks like your pins are the same width but a different spacing on them. Is that correct?

Bryan

[Scott Hubl]

Bryan,
I am also new to the Leigh jigs, and have been told if you have 2 routers use one for the dovetail bit and one for the straight bit.

Set both of them up, and do your test runs, get your desired fit and you sould be good to go, without having to switch bits and possibly mess up in the middle of the process.
Hope that helps and please post pics when finished.
Good luck.

[Bryan Berguson]

Good news guys!!! I've cut the 19.5 inch joints without any problems and they came out perfect! Sorry, no pictures yet, I'll wait until I put it together.

The Leigh D4R is a great jig! I can't wait to make some more projects with it but I guess I'd better get this one done first.

Thanks for all your tips!

I should add that the butternut behaved very nicely and didn't blow out anyplace. Unfortunately, I'm almost out of it. I'm trying to calculate if I have enough to build a matching dresser. It will be close, really close...

Bryan

[Bob Genovesi]

The other tip is don’t spin your router!!! Unless your bit is centered perfectly in you router and the collar of is also dead center, any rotation of your router will affect the fit of you DT's.

Jeff,

Could you elaborate a bit more on your comment; "Don't spin your router"'?

Thank you,

[Glen Blanchard]

Jeff,

Could you elaborate a bit more on your comment; "Don't spin your router"'?

Thank you,

Well I don't own a Leigh jig, but I believe Jeff meant to orient the router the same for the whole project - that is, if the right handle of the router is at, for example, the 3 o'clock position, route the complete project with it at 3 o'clock.