Porter Cable Dovetail Jig 4212

[rawliee]

I recently bought the Porter Cable Dovetail Jig 4212. I have set it up where the dovetails fit perfect and can say it was relatively easy. My problem is that after I cut the dovetails and put them together the top and bottom of the drawer front and sides are not flush, they are off by <1/16, but still frustrating. Has anyone else seen this?

I have looked at the manual and can't find any adjustment they recommend.

Thanks.

Rawliee

[drumpriest]

They should be flush if both pieces were tight against the stops. Are you cutting on a common width for the PC? 3 1/4, 4 1/4, 5 1/4....etc 1/4....??

I wonder if your stops need adjusting?

[jackellis]

I have the HF dovetail jib but I believe they operate about the same way. Sounds like your stops need adjusting, especially if the mismatch is consistent.

[jarhead]

I was wrestling with this same problem for a long time when I was making through dovetails. What I discovered was the fact that the bit was not centered within the guide bushing and that was causing the misalignment. I also had to flip the motor around in its casting for better centricity (sp). Also, make sure you do not rotate the router when cutting the dovetails - leave it oriented the same way throughout the cuts.
I also bought Pat Warner's router base kit for my Bosch 1617 router which helped with centering.

Reading this site helped me enormously. Start reading at that link and continue on to the next page.