Many offer alternate templates for cutting finger joints or sliding dovetails. I found the template adjustment easier, especially on the CMT and Porter-Cable jigs, which provide built-in guide lines on the template that you set to the edge of the material. This Porter-Cable dovetail jig is for those who like accuracy in work and is ready to expend a few more bucks for a superior quality power tool. However certain widths will produce a more attractive joint, with symmetrical half-pins at each end. The 1/2-in. Others have the capacity to make box joints, through-dovetails, or other sizes of half-blind dovetails. The joint cut on one jig looks the same and is just as strong as that cut on any other. half-blind dovetail joint in the same way. Enter now for your chance to win more than $2,000 worth of woodworking equipment from Woodpeckers. … It is also the only system that uses a 1/2-in.-shank router bit, which offers less vibration that 1/4-in.-shank bits. Also worth a closer look is the Woodhaven, which offers unique features that could be especially useful to some woodworkers: it uses a bearing-guided bit that works on any router (as opposed to the template guide bushings on other systems), and it can be used in the inverted position on a router table. Porter-Cable 4210 Dovetail Jig: Rockler 62525 Dovetail Jig: Woodhaven 7500 Dovetail Jig: Woodstock International H0983 Dovetail Jig: Woodtek 122-471 Dovetail Jig: Generally, setup is straight forward Because both parts of the joint are cut in one pass, the pins board must be offset from the tails board by 1/2 in. The Porter-Cable 4212 is not as expensive as the 4216. Add to Cart. Plus tips, advice, and special offers from Fine Woodworking. UNLIMITED membership - Get access to it all. All jigs can make precise joints, but not all do it easily 99. Because most of you don’t cut dovetails every day, or every month for that matter, you’ll often need a little refresher when you use the jig. UNLIMITED Membership is like taking a master class in woodworking for less than $10 a month. As for securing the jig itself, I prefer mounting it on a piece of plywood and clamping that to the bench, rather than drilling holes in my work surface. It's not that big of a piece, but it packs in a…, Chris Gochnour's sideboard combines usefulness, strength, and beauty in a contemporary case piece. There is a wide variety of router jigs designed for cutting dovetails. Rating Review: 5 stars out of 5. For this Web-based feature, I evaluated the simplest, most affordable, dovetail jigs — seven in all — which cut half-blind dovetails with fixed spacing, on workpieces that are 12 in. Get woodworking tips, expert advice and special offers in your inbox. increments. Some allow variable spacing of the pins and tails. dimension refers to the uniform width of each pin and tail. Steve Fikar's space-saving mobile support can handle big jobs, too. Only the Porter-Cable jig has a built-in depth guide. The seven jigs I evaluated cut the basically the same 1/2-in. Others are very wide for dovetailing deep carcases. The real differences between the jigs involve workpiece capacity, special features, and, most importantly, the ease of setup and use. In Fine Woodworking #187, Tim Albers evaluated the 13 most versatile router dovetail jigs on the market that can produce through-dovetails and variably-spaced pins and tails. On two jigs, the guides are completely fixed, so you must stick to just a few very precise stock widths in order to get symmetrical joints.