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Thread: Porter cable dovetail jig question

  1. #1

    Porter cable dovetail jig question

    I have been watching utube videos for setting up the Porter Cable Dovetail Jig for half blind dovetails. They show initially that you center the first piece between the fingers on the template and adjust the side stop so that it is against the edge of the piece.

    My question is do you have to do this every time you make a drawer with a different width, or is this a permanent step for all subsequent drawers regardless of the width?

    I haven't bought the jig yet but I am leaning toward buying it in the next few days.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Elmodel, Ga.
    Posts
    798
    Check out Woodworkers Guild of America (WWGOA). Vondriska has a very good detailed video series on the PC dovetail jig. He explains it in detail the aspects of this jig.
    My Dad always told me "Can't Never Could".

    SWE

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Eure View Post
    Check out Woodworkers Guild of America (WWGOA). Vondriska has a very good detailed video series on the PC dovetail jig. He explains it in detail the aspects of this jig.
    Great! Will do, thanks!

    RC

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North Prairie, WI
    Posts
    222
    Porter Cable says you should size the wood 1/4" over the inch for standard dovetails - 5-1/4", 6-1/4", etc. wide. In theory, you could set the stop once and forget about it if the original board was exactly to size and all future boards are exactly to size. In reality, I never end up with that level of perfection. Even slight differences could show up as uneven joinery; although it may not be readily visible to the naked eye if it's off by 1/32. I take a few seconds to verify the stop position each time. It doesn't take long and helps ensure that my joinery stays evenly spaced.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Brader View Post
    Porter Cable says you should size the wood 1/4" over the inch for standard dovetails - 5-1/4", 6-1/4", etc. wide. In theory, you could set the stop once and forget about it if the original board was exactly to size and all future boards are exactly to size. In reality, I never end up with that level of perfection. Even slight differences could show up as uneven joinery; although it may not be readily visible to the naked eye if it's off by 1/32. I take a few seconds to verify the stop position each time. It doesn't take long and helps ensure that my joinery stays evenly spaced.
    Thanks Scott, makes perfect sense.

    One more quick question. On my old Sears Jig, you did the Front/left corner and the Right/rear corner on the left side of the jig and the Front/right and Left/rear corner on the right side. Is that the same for the Porter Cable jig?

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