I'm thinking about taking the plunge a buying a Leigh D4 dovetail jig. I've seen demonstrations at shows and like the design and features. About the only thing that worries me is how many of these things show up on ebay with a description like 'only used once or twice'. Makes me wonder if people hate these things after they buy them. anybody out there have any thoughts?
A good deal of the answer to your questions revolves around how often you will be using the jig, and only you can honestly foresee that. I use mine on every project that I make drawers for, which is most of them. While initially expensive, it has saved me a lot of time and, in that sense alone, it was worth every penny.
When making purchases for a hobby, we generally say hang the expense. Then we find out how little we use the new toy. I like mine just fine.
It's a little complicated to learn, and each time you use it you need to make one or more test cuts on samples of the specific stock you will be using, in order to fine-tune your setup. So occasional users might get frustrated with it. For me, since I use it only occasionally myself, I pretty much have to start over with it each time. So that might account for those 'only used once or twice' comments. I'd say that buying one of those on eBay might get you a good bargain since it'll be nearly new.
Tom Dacon
I myself like the Akeda dovetail jig. It's much easier to use than the Leigh.
Easier but less versatitable.. An 18" dovetail would be out of the question IIRC.
I have glued mine together and have made drawers as wide as 24" with the Akeda.
now THAT sounds like a pain in the ass.
And the Leigh is NOT complicated AT ALL. The only prerequisite is the ability to read.
I love my Leigh. There's a lot of parts in the box to assemble, maybe the sheer number of parts is overwhelming to some.
There's a good manual that comes with it. I didn't read it cover to cover, just the parts relevant to what I wanted to do. This of course is through dovetails to make some drawers. After a while I wanted to do sliding dovetails. No problem. Read the relevant section.
And so on. This jig can do a lot, or as little as you want. And you can add different template guides to make other kinds of joints. It's really very versatile. As much or as little as you want.
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