PORTER-CABLE Dovetail Jig, 12-Inch (4210) Silver

It is really nice to have and works great. Made drawers that went together perfectly. It took a while to set up, and we had to order additional parts for our router. Only comes with one template, so that’s a bummer. Most of this is in the description and you should expect it. However, it’s still a bummer.

I started out with the $38 Harbor Freight dovetail jig. It does work, but it’s not the Porter Cable jig. The Porter Cable jig makes the dovetail process so much easier. And, it works with greater precision and ease. Granted, I got my feet wet using the Harbor Freight jig, but I wish I had started out with the Porter Cable jig first. Also, it is more cost effective to buy the upgraded version of the Porter Cable jig with the additional templates.

Great project starter

There are some other good reviews and tips but I discovered two helpful things.1. Some others mentioned the pieces not lining up perfectly flush and this is due to the offset guide not offsetting the pieces by exactly 1/2”. There were some solutions mentioned but I found it easiest to use a small piece of duct tape on the edge of the vertical portion of the guide. For me, this displaces the vertical piece (the tails) a little more to the right and giving the correct (1/2”) offset. I actually used two pieces of tape (1 thickness of tape was not quite enough). The most important thing though, I think, is to measure the offset before making the cut. Place the pieces using the guide and clamp them down securely but before cutting, measure to make sure the offset is 1/2”. You probably will have to lift the template up to get a good measurement. Then just put the template back on top, secure it, and cut.2. The guide bushing may not be a perfect circle. It may be oval by just a few thousandths of a inch. On my first cut, the tails were too big “around” (when looking at them end on) and they would not fit into the pins even with a hammer. Then, I rotated the router 45 degrees and the joint fit together easily by hand. What is happening is when I rotated the router, I was using a part of the guide bushing that was actually very slightly smaller (in diameter) which means the tails are very slight smaller and the pins (actually the gaps between the pins, where the tails fit into) are slightly larger. If you can’t find a position of the guide bushing the gives the right fit, you could gently file the the sides of the bushing just a few thousandths at a time until you get a good fit. Also, once you find the part of the guide bushing that gives that perfect fit, you could mark the opposite sides with a permanent marker. Then, rotate the bushing in the base plate so that the marks are parallel to the handles on the router so you can make the cuts with the router handles in the comfortable position (parallel to the width of the jig and wood). The marks will also be useful for future reference when you reinstall the baseplate and bushing.All in all, the jig is very good. It is very sturdy and the clamps hold the wood really well. The main shortcoming is the offset guide (mine was off by almost a full 1/16” (two thicknesses of duct tape). Then the guide bushing being a little off was a problem until I figured out what was going on.

Ordered and after 2 weeks canceled it. Ordered again from a different vendor and it was lost. Got a refund and went to Rockler store to get it. Works great after set up.

This opens a whole new dimension of wood working.

I recently built new cabinets for my kitchen and wanted to make them the way they used to build cabinets. Now adays they are not made very well which is why I wanted to build my own. I had an old jig that was hard to set up and had seen better days. I built them out of oak wood so I didn't want to waste any if at all possible! I'm glad I bought this jig. It stands up to the name and was affordable. I will get years of use out of it.

I tried a slightly cheaper General American dovetail jig first and it was flimsy, warped easily, and generally was a pain to dial to precision.This jig is so much better. It's sturdy, and the ability to do both sides (pins and tails) at once is going to save you a lot of headache in making the two sides match perfectly.The only problem is in working with longer wood, unless you have a way to mount this jig at a 90degree angle. I can only mount this on top of the work table, just as the picture shows, and the wood pieces come up from underneath. I'm working with 60" pieces, so I had to mount this on my deck and feed the wood from the hill beneath.

Well made piece of engineering got to praise the yanks for robustness and does what it says on the tin........

I love the quality of this dovetail jig. It arrived with a 17/32" dovetail bit with a 1/2" shank (Porter Cable proprietary size) that would not fit any of my routers. I tried a variety of 1/2" bits with no success. Frustration has me almost ready to return the jig. Then I found a 17/32" bit with a 1/4" shank and I was off to the races. With a proper sized bit the jig works great. A LOT of setup and trial pieces are needed to get all settings right, but when set it produces lovely dovetails. If you don't have a router that accepts a 1/2" shank you will need to find another bit or another router if you want this jig.

Well thought out product, quality materials, works well, would buy again

Recomiendo

Good sturdy jig, easy to use, would recommend this jig to anyone. Completely satisfied.