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If I look ultra-serious, it is because I am starting the installation of a brand new Leigh
D4 Dovetail Jig. There is a bit of reverence just saying those words — Leigh has
earned a reputation for being the "King of Dovetail Jigs." I used one too long
ago to be able to say I have any experience with it. So, as a "newbie", I start
at page one and proceed from there.
[If you want to skip to where Beth starts using the
jig, click here.]
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Beth
will be here soon to use this jig for her first time, and we will be going through the
steps with her. In the meantime, I will assemble and setup the jig using their great
instruction book. It is 150 pages in a spiral binding that makes it real easy to keep your
place. I have heard comments like "any jig that has to have such a large manual, is
too complex for me!" I don't know for certain, yet, but I think that remark will be
totally unsupported. From reading through just a few pages, the illustrations and
step-by-step detail makes all the steps easy to understand without any confusion — I
like that.
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Step
one is to mount the jig on a piece of wood that can be clamped to the workbench. The
manual specifies the size of the board and exactly where the holes should be drilled. You
can see that I have already placed the T-nut bolts into the underside of the Jig.
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I am
fastening one of the two mounting bolts. I put a single drop of epoxy on the last threads
of the bolt. This will keep vibration from loosening the nut. That precaution is my doing.
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I
used my Sawzall with a metal cutting blade to cut the screw posts down to a less
threatening length as is directed. I will get some decorative cap ends and add them later.
I don't want to be stabbed by that bolt end.
Note that I rounded the corners of the base — one less thing to poke at
me.
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I
now can clamp the jig securely on my workbench.
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The
next step is to slide two square nuts into two of the jig's tracks. These nuts aren't used
until later, but this demonstrates the value of such illustrated step by step
instructions. Just think of what would have happened if you jumped over this small step?
It would have meant pain and annoyance of having to undo a number of things to add these
nuts. If I sound like I am making too big a point of this detail, it is probably because I
have been there too many times. It is refreshing to be directed so well each step of the
way.
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I
have just installed the left and right workpiece guides in the front (arrows) and am now
about to mount the two for the top. The castings are clearly supposed to be matched
left and right and have a specific orientation. The illustration in the Manual makes this
easy.
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These
are two of the four "adjustable bumpers." They will guide the boards when
inserting them in the jig. The arrow points to one of the adjustment tips. These are
factory set and we will check them later in the installation process. There is a
right and wrong way to mount them — another case where the illustrations in the
manual save the day.
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I
have now added the springs to these screw posts. The arrow points to one of the two clamp
bars.
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You can
see that I have placed the upper clamp on the screw posts and am now doing the same on the
front clamps.
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