Thread: Router for Leigh Jigs

You don't want/need anything too heavy or powerful. Ideally something that has 1/4" and 8mm collets supplied with it. If you are intending to buy router bits go for the 8mm shank bits. Any of the smaller plunge routers from Makita, DeWalt, Bosch etc. would be ideal.

When i used mine quite a bit i had two routers, it saved significant amount of time and gave much more consistent results as you introduce variation when you change bits.
If you're going out and getting a new (or used) router i'd recommend Makita's 3601B over a plunge router especially for use with the dovetail bit, this eliminates the risk of a brain fart moment of accidentally raising the bit after a cut, with the straight bit this doesn't really matter so any router works.

Leigh do DT jigs in two formats, router over jig and jig on router table. It would probably help to identify which style you are considering. For the router over jig style, something reasonably powerful, capable of accepting common Porter Cable style template guides, or accepting an alternate base that will, but light and capable of using an 8mm collet. (8mm shank has a much greater shank cross section than a 1/4in shank so is more rigid and should cut more accurate DT's, plus the basic bits supplied by Leigh have 8mm shanks.)
For jigs intended for router table use, probably a bit more open in choice, depending on what else you might do with a table. 8mm collets probably important, and need to be able to have router /table combo able to accommodate Porter cable style template guides.
Leigh use a slightly oval template guide and rotate it relative to the jig fingers to achieve correct setup for both styles of jig.

Thank you for the information. I am intending to use Router over jig. I have Leigh super 18" jig.
We have very limited choice here regarding portable routers when compared to North America.

I bought a secondhand Leigh D4R Pro with VRS dust extraction accessory and it gets used quite a bit - mostly drawers but also blanket boxes and other small cabinets. On the basis of Pat Warner's (sadly he's died) router website I bought a deWalt 521 (now the 621 and much more expensive) and its been terrific ( I have Warners router base fitted). Like someone else said, having 2 routers is helpful for many operations that otherwise require swapping out and resetting the bits. So I waited until a decent secondhand Festool OS1400 came up and bought it ($600) - its a wonderfully balanced and easy to use piece of kit. I think a 1/2" collet machine is a more flexible option if you choose wisely. The Leigh jig will handle 1/2" bits for larger work so it depends on your projects. Also I find the VRS dust extraction really worthwhile - apart from doing a good job of collecting shavings, it provides a stable platform to rest the router base on - that makes a difference.

I still have my Leigh D24 jig with which I use a Bosche 1300ACE router as well as a Festool OF1400 router both capable routers in that usage.
Whatever router/s you decide on you will need the relavent bush/s for it/them.

I picked up the Leigh D4R Pro (plus DE attachment) a few years ago, and a DeWalt D26204K-XE to go with it. That suffix on the model number means it comes with plunge *and* fixed based attachments, so you'll see various permutations.

This is functionally the same as the DeWalt DWP611 that our friends across the pond a) talk about all the time, and b) can pick up for half the price. I recall seeing that model referenced a lot in Leigh documentation & forums.

As tonzeyd intimates, having two routers can save you a bit of time, but I believe takes a bit of fiddling around up front to get the adjustable bushes *just right*, and I think that all goes out the window if you have to swap the bushes / bottom plate attachment off to use the router elsewhere for a while. My D26204K was $450 in mid-2019 from Toolmart in Perth I think, and I see they're now at $590.

IIRC the Leigh basic models come with 8mm router bits only (they have extra / special kits with larger, probably 1/2 inch shanks). The D26204K shipped with a 6.25mm collet, and hunting down an 8mm collet was a bit of a pain - I ultimately found one at JPM Tools in Victoria AU for $66. I also picked up a 6mm collet on ebay for $50 around the same time.

Anyway, point being, I really like this router, but getting it to work with the Leigh cutters has some extra hassle and cost you should consider up front. You may want to check 8mm collet availability & cost for whatever other model(s) you're favouring, as it may be even more of a burden.

You could more easily use a reducing collet on a 1/2" router -- but personally I think a larger router would feel unwieldy / scary, and obscure too much of the work piece, when using the Leigh. My router hasn't struggled at all with dovetailing, though I'm mostly using soft timbers, and/or happy to move slower on denser material.