Porter Cable 4200 Series Dovetail Jig

[George Bokros]

Bought this some time ago and am just now getting ready to learn to use it. I believe it comes with a 7* bit set. I just read that a 14* dovetail makes a joint with a nicer appearance. My question is can I use the PC 4200 series jig with a 14* bit and if so I know it takes two bits, the dovetail bit and a straight bit. Can you recommend a set of 14* bits to use with this jig.

Any other help and suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks


George

[Richard Coers]

You may be getting confused between the half blind and through dovetails. The half blind use one bit, and cuts both sides of the joints at the same time. The through dovetails use two bits. I'm not familiar with that Porter Cable jig, but if you change the angle bits on the through dovetails, you will need a template comb to match the bit angle. I'm confident the 14 degree discussion is for the half blind dovetails since only one bit is used and the comb will work with any angle bit. Do a Google search, I saw a discussion on Lumberjocks showing the resulting cut between both bits. These were half blind dovetails.

[Stephen Cherry]

I believe it comes with a 7* bit set. I just read that a 14* dovetail makes a joint with a nicer appearance.



7° is more of a normal angle, but nicer appearance is subjective. If it were me, I would just learn with what I have first.

[Jamie Buxton]

It has been a while since I looked closely at that jig, but IIRC, it only does 7 degree dovetails. It makes half-blind joints with a single-sided template and one (dovetail) bit. It makes through dovetails with a double-sided template and two bits -- a dovetail bit and a straight bit.

[Bill White]

I use the standard supplied bit on my 4210.
Bill

[Earl McLain]

The 4200 can use a 14 deg in some settings, half-blind takes a 17/32" or 5/8" 14 deg to cut pins and tails at the same time. Cutting them separately requires two 14 degree bits, but the combinations are more common (3/4" and 1/2" for example). Through dovetails need to be 7 deg. On the PC web site, you can download a supplemental manual (free) that runs through a number of alternative techniques and has a table of bit combinations in the back. The supplemental manual is really a nice piece.
earl