Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Woodworking). This thread is read-only.
Been looking at Dovetail jigs. Seems about every model made has it’s share of lovers and haters, but the Porter Cable 4216 seems to be the most universally accepted.
Any input from the crew? Is there a gem I’m missing, or is the PC what I should be looking at?
Fine woodworking just did a tool test of dovetail jigs in their latest issue. Ill snag some pics.
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Dovetail jigs are great if you are going to cut a large number of joints. I have a Leigh jig and I like it for the adjustability, but I can’t remember the last time I used it. I found that if I were going to cut just a couple of dovetail joints, it was almost as quick to mark them out and cut them by hand. My brother had an old PC jig, and it was easier to set up and use than the Leigh, but he hasn’t used his in years either. The only time either of us have used them was for personal projects, as they were just not a cost effective alternative when building for others.
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Thanks for sharing Rich. Kinda confirms what I suspected, but I didn’t know the Fast Joint existed.
JMG: I’m not naive enough to believe I will use it with any regularity, don’t even have a pressing need or current project for it, just want to be able to upgrade to dovetails occasionally for drawers and such. Certainly won’t use it enough to ever get good with it, so easy set up is a key feature.
If I had to buy one again, I would probably pick the Porter Cable. The only reason to pick the Leigh over any of the others is if you wanted to vary the width of the pins along the joint. I probably spent more time figuring out where I wanted pins and fiddling with the jig than I did actually cutting the joints.
No problem. I’ve contemplated getting one myself. Just bought a veritas dovetail saw so I’m sure it will be a while lol.
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I’ve been looking at them for a while also. The PC is just sooo expensive. I was looking at the cheaper jigs but mixed reviews but half the price: https://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D2796-Dovetail-Aluminum-Template/dp/B0000DD1T7
The PC does look great, I’m just not sure I want to dish out $120 or more for the extra templates kit.
I have a Porter Cable 4216 DT jig like this
https://mechanicguides.com/best-dovetail-jigs/ which is a deluxe version of their basic 4212 DT jig. It works pretty well for a variety of basic joints.Once you learn to use them, they are worth their weight in gold.The only drawback is they always produce machine-made joints that look machine made. They are very uniform which is good for draws that folks don’t look at all the time. But if you are making furniture with exposed joints, these machine-made joints are..not exactly what you need🙂
JMG wrote:
On 9/12/2017 at 5:07 PM, JMG said:If I had to buy one again, I would probably pick the Porter Cable. The only reason to pick the Leigh over any of the others is if you wanted to vary the width of the pins along the joint. I probably spent more time figuring out where I wanted pins and fiddling with the jig than I did actually cutting the joints.
The porter cable 4200 series only does 7 degree dovetails which i don’t think look very good.