PC 4212 - 12" Limit?

[Bill Fellmy]

Is the PC 4212 DT jig actually limited to making a 12" dovetail? According to a video clip on the manufacturer's website, the template can be removed from the jig itself and mounted to a 2" wide board which can then be clamped to whatever length of stock is being used. The video makes it look easy, but has anyone used this technique? As always, I appreciate your comments.

[Norman Hitt]

Bill, maybe when you do it like the clip showed, you have to call it a Keller Jig then. :D

[Charlie Plesums]

My brother would make larger items by cutting the dovetails on the wood before it was completely glued up into panels. Sounds hard to me, but he argued that he was going to do the glue up anyway, so by changing the sequence... you know the story. He does good work, but I bought a larger jig.

[Allen Bookout]

Bill, How do you like the 4212 other than the width limit?

Charlie, What did you get and how do you like it? I see from another thread that you do not care for the 4212.

It seems to me that the cost of the Akeda and D4 is out of line for a tool that just does one thing and has no motor. May be I am out of line as I have not seen them demonstrated. The Keller concept seems sound but only through dovetails and no variable spaceing. At $700 plus extras and bits the Woodrat seems way out of line in less you are planning on doing a whole lot of other things other than dovetails and I see one report that the dovetails, even when done by experts, are a bit sloppy.

In my mind there seems to be no good answer.

Allen

[Jim Becker]

It seems to me that the cost of the Akeda and D4 is out of line for a tool that just does one thing and has no motor.

Both of these jigs do "more than one thing", especially the Leigh, although they obviously are specific to joinery. Remember, they are also extremely adjustable for pin width and can cut a large number of sizes and work with a larger variety of thicknesses. A similar argument can be presented about the Incra table mounted system...

What's really great, however, is that there are so many choices. If the PC 4112 meets your personal needs, then that's going to be the best buy for you. If you need (or more accurately, "want") some or all of the capablities of the Leigh, Akeda, Incra, etc., then they are going to be worthy of your investment.

[Allen Bookout]

Jim,

You are always so calm and analytical and do not attack personally. Thanks as I am kind of new to this dovetail jig thing. I know that you are a Leigh guy so that is good enough for me. Is there a way to make a dust collection set up for it?

The other thing that I have not considered is the Incra set up as I do not see much being said about it on the Forum. Is anyone using it? Will take a look.

Thanks again!!!! Allen

[Bill Fellmy]

Allen,

I have not made a purchase yet. After reading several of the threads, I was thinking Porter Cable or Keller. Yesterday, however, both my local Woodcraft and Rockler guys assured me that the 4212 was limited to 12" so I came home and watched the video again (verifying that it was capable of cutting longer dovetails) only to become more confused. I also started giving serious consideration (even before Mr. Becker weighed in) to the D4 which is on a Manager's Special here. Combined with my $15 discount card, I would be looking at $365 plus tax, about a 10% savings. On the other hand, the PC would cost $135.

[Bob Noles]

Bill,


I feel your pain.... I recently went through the same confusion. I ended up with the PC4212 which appears to be a great jig for the $ invested and I think I will be very happy with it for my needs.

I think Jim pretty well summed it up between wants and needs. Basically I just wanted to be able to cut machine hobbiest dovetails without breaking the bank. I believe and hope that I achieved my goal.

[Jim Becker]

Is there a way to make a dust collection set up for it?

Most jigs, including the Leigh, will require you to use a below-the-base hood to collect dust when cutting dovetails. (I use the Leigh hood from time to time for that) The downside is that the hood blocks your view of what you are doing. This is one thing that the folks at Akeda got right...their dust collection isn't "perfect", but it's pretty effective from the demos I've seen.

More often than not, I just put on my Packard Turner's Smock when cutting dovetails on the jig and it at least keeps the "stuff" out of my shirt and pants. ;)

[Charlie Plesums]

Charlie, What did you get and how do you like it? I see from another thread that you do not care for the 4212.
Allen

I got the Leigh D4 and love it.

Don't get me wrong... the Porter Cable does a very good job - I made a lot of nice drawers with it. But as I tried to get fancier, such as using thinner sides on drawers with half blind dovetails, those DTs show on the inside of the drawer if you use the Porter Cable in the "normal" setup, so I did a lot of Jury Rigging. If you want a drawer an odd height, with the "proper" pins and tails at the top and bottom, you need adjustable spacing...I made a lot of drawers where the bottom dovetail wasn't the right width - still strong, but not technically right. If you are looking at something large, a smaller number of larger dovetails will look nicer than lots of little fixed space ones.

I am horrified at the cost of the D4, but (after a few hours to get it set up and learn to use it) it quickly does a great job at adjustable width and thickness dovetails as well as all sorts of joints (I have even used it for sliding dovetails). I never made a drawer that hit the 12 inch limit of the PC, and use other joints for large boxes like toy chests. Today I might go for the cheaper 16 inch Leigh, since I haven't used the 24 inch capacity.

If you want to start with the Porter Cable, make me an offer. But if you use it a lot, or want adjustable, or.... I bet you later get the Leigh or one of the other more sophisticated units - all of which seem horribly expensive.

[Mike Sheppard]

Bill
Another one you might check out is Slots for $40, I have one and it workes great for what I do.
Mike

http://www.stots.com/

[Allen Bookout]

Bill,

Thanks for the heads up on the Slots. I found it very interesting. If nothing else I am sure that I would learn a great deal by giving it a try even if I decided to go with something else later on. I am still thinking about it but am pretty sure that I will go that route first as I do not have any time constraints.

Charlie,

I was going to send you an e-mail thanking you for your advice but after looking at your home page and seeing how busy you must be I decided to put the thanks here. Beautiful work if anyone wants to take a look.

Allen