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  1. #11
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Highland MI
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    4,533
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    11

    Using the Leigh Jig with the Dewalt 621 router

    I have the Leigh D1600 jig that is being used to make dovetail joints on several drawer boxes for my kitchen remod. A couple of things that helped me:

    • The dovetail bits were a 8 mm shank. I had a 5/16 x 1/2" collet adaptor that worked well to adapt the 8 mm shank to the 1/2" router collet. 5/16" = 7.9375 mm.
    • The 621 uses the left knob to tighten the plunge mechanism. Once you have the depth set, tighten that knob about as tight as you can get it. I didn't and my first use of the router unplunged it so that the dovetail bit ate the brass bushing. I had to get a new one from Highland Woodworking. http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/s...spx?find=leigh
    • My first use of the jig generated copious amounts of sawdust. I opted to get the Leigh vacuum and router support, well worth it. Bought that also from Highland Woodworking.
    • My kit did not come with the 12 degree dovetail bits needed for 5/8" drawer sides. Infinity Tools were one of the few places I could find them in the states. http://www.infinitytools.com/?key=gp...IA6g#&panel1-1
    • When routing the pins, the manual recommends removing the material in 3 or 4 passes. I found that by marking 2 lines on the jig templates with a sharpie and peering over the top of the router (using eye and ear protection of course), I could get some repeatability on doing it in 3 fairly even passes. A small thing but when you are routing a hundred or more pins, doing 300 vs 400 passes can be a a big help.
    • I could have used my shop vac for dust collection but opted to utilize the dust collector. As I had the Leigh jig clamped to my router table, I just connected a section of 2-1/2" vac hose from the Leigh dust collector to the 2-1/2" inlet on the side of the router table that normally services the rear fence collector. Worked fine.
    • Using two layers of 1-1/8" particle board and a large forstner bit I constructed a router "landing pad" that allowed me to set the router down with the bit extended.
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    Last edited by Ole Anderson; 05-31-2013 at 3:23 PM.

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