The Sandal Woods video podcast and blog

Through Dovetails on the Leigh D4R Pro

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:39:24 +0000

It is no secret I like working with high quality jigs to make joinery. In the shop I have the Leigh D4R Pro, the older D4, and more recently I have been using the new R9Plus. More than a few readers have written to me asking whether buying the R9Plus would mean giving up [...]

Hang it out to dry

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:45:35 +0000

Many woodworkers are making holiday gifts in their shops. Are you one of them? Please remember to exercise caution with rags used to apply the finish. What is the safety issue? Varnish used in the shop in some cases will self-ignite, given proper conditions. Why? As a varnish containing linseed oil, or Danish and [...]

All holidays wrapped into one at Leigh

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:32:11 +0000

I chuckled — Leigh says “We’ve got an app for that!”: And why not? I bought a new smart phone (only) a few months ago, and finally learned about apps. Now even my granddaughters know that I know what an app is. Leigh has it all set up for YOUR holidays – get YOUR app, [...]

We thank our troops for upholding our freedom

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:31:54 +0000

Words alone cannot express our gratitude for everything you do. You are our Heroes. Thank You! Al Navas U.S. Army, ’66-’68

Black Friday at Woodcraft

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:29:52 +0000

I wish all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you and your family will have wonderful loved ones around you. Sandy and I are lucky to have our daughter, her husband, and their seven beautiful girls coming to share a wonderful lunch with us. We are lucky, indeed. I am late with [...]

Invert the R9Plus joinery jig at the router table

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:53:17 +0000

A joinery jig that works well both right-side-up, and also upside-down, is a huge plus. I have already shown the Leigh R9Plus “right-side-up”. It worked great. But I was curious about the upside-down configuration, on the router table. I was in for a surprise, as it is a breeze to use this way, although [...]

New video about a new joinery system

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:51:37 +0000

I received an e-mail from Leigh, letting me know about a new video just posted on YouTube. The video is about their new R9Plus joinery jig, and was produced to show in a few minutes what it is capable of doing. I have been posting about this new jig; but the new video does [...]

Finger joints on the new R9Plus jig

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:00:05 +0000

The concept to machine finger joints using the Leigh R9Plus jig is very straight forward. Machining finger joints I machined 3/8-inch joinery as follows: Set the side stop to the 3/8 mark. Set the eBush to “5″, in preparation for a test joint. The boards are placed flush under the template, and tight against [...]

Through dovetails using the Leigh R9Plus jig

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:53:38 +0000

Now that the setup of the R9Plus jig is complete, it is time to machine through dovetails. The following steps are essential to accomplish good, tight joinery. It seems like a lot, but I have broken down all the steps you will see in the 4:47 minute video. No kidding – it takes only [...]

Thank you, Veterans – we honor you today

Al Navas - Sandal Woods — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:49:51 +0000

. Thank you all who have served, and those who serve today! . — Al Navas, U.S. Army, ’66-’68