Porter Cable Dovetail Jig question

[Ron Citerone]

I will be dusting off my Porter Cable dovetail jig that I used several times 3 years ago with decent results. I have 3 flush drawers to dovetail. Years ago with my old sears jig, I believe you did one side of the drawer front on the left side and the other on the right.

I have watched several utubers doing all their cuts on the left side. Is that OK? Seems to me it will reverse the pattern and possibly affect the visibility of the groove for the bottom.

I will run some test cuts first for sure but would like some heads up feed back.

Thanks ron

[Jared Sankovich]

The drawer bottom groove should always be face up and toward the stops.. meaning you will use both the left and right sides of the jig. Anyone who doesn't likely can't figure out why they have a groove showing through the finished dovetails..

[Dave Zellers]

If the fingers are movable then you can work from the same side as long as you set them correctly.

[James Jayko]

IIRC it was all about getting everything setup correctly. Like, if the fingers was properly aligned / spacedon the board, they would be equidistant from both edges of the drawer front. I always had passable (but never perfect) results with the PC jig.

[Mike Gresham]

This thread and the video it references might be of some help.
Modifications to Porter Cable Dovetail Jig (4210, 4212, 4216) for consistent results (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?288021-Modifications-to-Porter-Cable-Dovetail-Jig-(4210-4212-4216)-for-consistent-results)

[Richard Coers]

I have faithfully kept the owners manual for my Omnijig stored with my fixture for at least 25 years now. In fact it's been folded over to the adjustment page for all that time.

[Ron Citerone]

I have faithfully kept the owners manual for my Omnijig stored with my fixture for at least 25 years now. In fact it's been folded over to the adjustment page for all that time.

I have mine too Rich, thanks. I followed the directions last time and had OK results, always looking for experienced prospective before I dust off the box. My old Craftsman one was pretty much beat and had a limited capacity.

[Ron Citerone]

Thanks James, I did 5 drawers last time and well, lets say as you put it, passable but not perfect.

[Ron Citerone]

The drawer bottom groove should always be face up and toward the stops.. meaning you will use both the left and right sides of the jig. Anyone who doesn't likely can't figure out why they have a groove showing through the finished dovetails..

Thanks Jared, that's the way I figured it especially with the bottom groove being hidden on different height drawers.

[Ron Citerone]

This thread and the video it references might be of some help.
Modifications to Porter Cable Dovetail Jig (4210, 4212, 4216) for consistent results (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?288021-Modifications-to-Porter-Cable-Dovetail-Jig-(4210-4212-4216)-for-consistent-results)

Lotta good stuff there Mike, I saved it to my bookmarks to watch again before I cut the dovetails.

[Richard Verwoest]

Ron, I have often wondered the same thing. So which corners do you cut against the lefthand stop and which on the right?

[Jared Sankovich]

497268
497269
497270

I'm not a huge fan of the current PC jig, but it works OK. The stamped metal stops needed shimed to match on mine.
497271

[Ron Citerone]

Ron, I have often wondered the same thing. So which corners do you cut against the lefthand stop and which on the right?


Rich, looks like Jared's pic (Post #12) is worth a thousand words!

[Richard Verwoest]

Ron, agreed!