Thread: Dovetail Jigs?

When you buy the complete Gifkins jig with all the templates and cutters it does work out slightly more than the leigh jig, but you have to consider what you want the jig to do..
I use the gifkins jig and am pleased to say that straight from out of the box i was cutting straight through dovetails with no adjustments.

The leigh jig does require alot more setting to get you cuts right.

The leigh jig however lets you cut straight through, hlf blind and slidind dovetails with variable spacing. It also has many more templates for isolac joints, finger joints and mortice and tenon but once you start adding the cost of allthese templates plus cutters you will soon be talking to your bank manager for a loan.

hi dennis,
i own a leigh d/t jig and get great satisfaction in using it! yes it can be a bit frustrating in the beginning but like all new things you soon get to grips withem.
what other d/t jig can you do so many different joints with!!!
seeyousoon mik

From what I can gather, the gifkins jig needs well matched material thicknesses to do its job. Can this be a problem if you change things a lot by using diferent thickness material?

Hi Dennis, there has been a fair bit of discussion in the past on this topic.
If you do a search using the search function on the BB with "Dovetail Jigs" as your search string then you will more than likely find the info you so desire.

Cheers

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Johnno

Dennis,

By well-matched material I assume you mean the thickness of the stock for cutting the pins and the tails? Different thickness materials are not a problem with the Gifkins jig. Two cutters are used, one for the pins and one for the tails. Obviously when you change the cutters in your router you need to reset the height of cutter and this is matched to the thickness of the adjoining stock.

I haven’t used the Leigh jig but I can say that the Gifkins system is quick and easy to set-up and doesn’t employ rocket science to use it with excellent results!

Red neck