Was dead set on hand-cutting dovetails until I tried the Leigh jig at a class in Tacoma

I spent like 6 months trying to get decent hand-cut dovetails for a blanket chest. Kept botching the angles and wasting oak from a local lumber yard. Then last month at a community college workshop the instructor let me use their Leigh jig and I knocked out a perfect joint in 15 minutes. Has anyone else switched from hand tools to a jig and felt kind of freed up by it?

2 comments

2 Comments

wilson.claire7d ago

My buddy down at the hardware store swore by hand cut dovetails for years, said it was the only way to go for real craft. Then he tried a jig at a weekend class and bought one the next week. I figure whatever gets you to finish the project without wanting to chuck your plane across the shop is a win.

schmidt.willow7d ago

Your buddy probably still uses a marking gauge, not a plane, for dovetails though.