Customer Reviews and Photos for:
4212 Porter-Cable 12'' Dovetail Jig
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Average Rating:
3.7
(27 customer reviews)
$187.99
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1) Submitted by
Jason, from Kitchener, ONTARIO
on 4/26/2011
Customer Rating: 
Jig works Great. Read the instructions, watch a couple youtube videos and make sure you mark your Corresponding pieces. Make sure you do a couple of test pieces, works great!
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2) Submitted by
C Kendall from IA
on 2/22/2011
Customer Rating: 
Nice Jig. Works well initial cut was very close to perfect. Minor adjustments got me there!
You will need to build a base, or stand unless you want to drill into your bench to mount it.
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3) Submitted by
Marty Knighton, from Wellford, SC
on 10/26/2009
Customer Rating:
Was looking for a mid line dovetail jig. This is it does a wonderful job. After reading the how to book it was so easy to use and now on to making beehive for the wife. Love this jig.
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4) Submitted by
Jack, from Wapello, IA
on 3/18/2009
Customer Rating:
I have always been intimidated by dovetails until now. Took the plunge and bought the 4212 and wish I would have bought it sooner. With very little adjustments and I was off and running making perfect dovetail joints. I ordered this on a Monday and it was here on a Wednesday. Thanks Rockler for the quick service as always.
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5) Submitted by
FrankW, from Moulton, TX
on 3/2/2009
Customer Rating: 
Sending it back. Must have gotten a defective jig. Read the directions thoroughly a dozen times. Dovetails don't even come close to fitting. Glad others have had more success.
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6) Submitted by
Patrick Brown, from Pickerington, OHIO
on 2/27/2009
Customer Rating:
Just purchased the 4212 and on the second try (bit depth adjustment) produce a perfect 1/2 blind, everything fit perfectly. I think I must have read the manual 4 or 5 time before first attempt. The only issue I had was the top & bottom lining up perfectly but that was extremely minor. I've read reviews that referred to the left stop as problematic. If that's what's being referred to, it's really minor and I'm not yet convinced it was the jigs issue, I may not have had one of the boards firmly adgainst the stop. I spent months researching various jigs & reviews and went with the 4212. I can't offer comparison to others but after a very small learning curve, I'm extremely pleased with my purchase and can't imagine others being any easier.
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7) Submitted by
Ken Milhinch, from Melbourne, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
on 11/13/2008
Customer Rating:
Reasonable price and fairly simple to set up. I get excellent dovetails from this jig, and I really wonder why people pay up to $600 for other jigs. The left hand stop is not quite square on mine (seems that is a common problem) but that is easily fixed. All in all a product I would be happy to recommend.
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8) Submitted by
Kevin, from Lincolnton, NC
on 2/9/2008
Customer Rating:
Dovetail jigs can be tickie to set-up and use, after a little learning curve on the 4212 Porter-Cable dovetail jig I was making joinery like a pro.
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9) Submitted by
Jim Harris, from Chester, VA
on 2/10/2008
Customer Rating:
Great jig for the price. Once I learned how to set it up, a few practice runs, all went well.
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10) Submitted by
David Emmerling, from Douglass, TX
on 2/29/2008
Customer Rating:
Nice jig, instruction manual shows all steps necessary to set jig, easy to understand. Within an hour I was up and running. By the end of the day I had made 4 drawer sets with perfect fitting half blind dove tails. Bought mine on sale too!
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11) Submitted by
David Packley, from Morris, IL
on 2/25/2008
Customer Rating: 
I had to do a little rework on the stops, they were not bent right to make the drawers even at the top edges . After the rework the jig gave me a perfect fit.
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12) Submitted by
Michael, from Flora, MS
on 12/7/2012
Customer Rating:
I have this jig and it has been a disappointment. There no internal gauges, unified template movement (each side is moved separately), and no indicators of any type. The templates are made of a soft aluminum and the etched symbols show wear quickly. I recommend that you go for something like the Leigh jig (never used it but looks good) or the Incra LS Standard Positioner for router tables. Both have the gauges and indicators needed for accurate work that should be made easier by such tools.
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13) Submitted by
Mike, from Eagle, CO
on 11/22/2009
Customer Rating:
Looked at a number of jigs and went with the Porter-Cable , since by the time I would have purchased others to do the same cuts, it would have been more. I had to buy a converter for my Bosch router, I do not understand why the router builders just don't use a standard guide size. Made a few practice cuts and now making drawers and boxes like a pro, I am not. The jig has sure expanded my woodworking project list.
Pretty neat jig all in all and very easy to use.
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14) Submitted by
D, from Falls Church, VA
on 7/20/2008
Customer Rating: 
The left hand offset stop was not square to the face of the jig, causing misalignment between the drawer sides and ends. I had to grind it on a spindle sander to correct the problem.
Also, the instructions never actually say that you have to use the left side of the jig for the left side joints and the right side of the jig for the right side joints. Good thing I'd seen it used on the TV woodworking shows.
Also, dust collection is nearly impossible.
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15) Submitted by
Marco, from Norwich, CT
on 1/28/2008
Customer Rating:
After the initial learning curve the tool did a fantastic job and is quite easy to use. A great help in my shop and a great timesaver with the ease of setup.
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16) Submitted by
Edward Hinson, from Columbia, SC
on 1/22/2008
Customer Rating:
I love this piece of equipment. Cutting jigs for my cabinets and drawers is a snap. Took a little trial and error to get the hang of it but I simply love it.
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17) Submitted by
Mike Keener, from Jacksonville, FL
on 10/22/2007
Customer Rating:
I was building a shelving system for our pantry that included pull out drawers and I wanted the drawers to have through and half blind dove tails. In the past I would have tried to cut them by hand. Which never looked as good as I wanted. I decided to by a jig. I bought this jig after reading the reviews and on the Porter Cable long standing name. After reading the directions and doing the initial set up on the system I was very impresed. This jig is simple to use and produces expert quality joints.
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18) Submitted by
Kenneth Charles Tucker, from Brunswick, GA
on 7/16/2007
Customer Rating:
[]Porter Cable did a fine job on this. It simple to use. Believe me if I can use it , any one can.
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19) Submitted by
Daniel Maloney, from Hampton, VA
on 3/16/2006
I have the Porter-Cable 4212. This is one great dovetail jig. It's ready to go right out of the box with the Dovetail and Straight bits, which are nice 1/2" shank. And the guide bushings. Set-up is easy and with the preset depth guides you'll be making good looking and well Dovetail joints in no time. You will need to have a 1/2" stright bit to make boxjoints. But like the Dovetails, Boxjoints are easy to make. The Instruction manual is well writen and easy to understand.
I dont think you'll find a better 12" Dovetail Jig or one that is easier to use.
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20) Submitted by
Jac, from Omaha, NE
on 12/31/2006
Like all young and upcoming woodworkers I had a total fear of the dovetail joint, but I also have a love for the joint style. After trying well over 200 free-hand dovetails it was apparent that I needed some help. I found it in the Porter Cable jig. It came ready to go and was very easy to use with simple instructions. Now I look for places to put dovetails into any project I work on. It is a tough little unit, surviving a 4 foot fall onto a concrete floor. (don't ask, its painful just to remember). Even though it's had a somewhat painful existence with me, it has treated me right every time I use it. It has really helped me put some 'class' into my projects.
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21) Submitted by
Jim, from Leonardo, NJ
on 1/31/2008
Customer Rating:
Due to no fault of Rockler, the jig is defective from Porter Cable. I have read of others with the same problem. It seems the left guide is bent and therefore you cannot make the correct cuts on the left side. The right side is fine and the unit works perfectly there. I did contact Rockler who advised me they could contact the manufacturer for the part, but it seems that Porter Cable has it back-ordered until July. I am waiting on the part from them and last night took the hammer and vise to the one guide and will experiment in the next few days.
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22) Submitted by
Edwin Dubois, from Waterbury, CT
on 3/13/2009
Customer Rating:
I purchased a new 4212 jig and the stampings on the template are barely visible to someone with perfect vision. Porter Cable replaced the two templates and the new ones are just as bad. What a hassle!
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23) Submitted by
David W from CA
on 7/14/2009
Customer Rating:
Tried to make 2 practice joints the day.
Read the PC instructions and the excellent instructions at www.thewoodshop.20m.com/pc4112_p2.htm for over two hours before starting.
The plunge base slipped and the dust vacuum port of the PC 893 didn't help much with the dust. The fixed base was better. I have no doubt that given enough test cuts, I'll be making symmetric dovetails faster and better fitting than I could do by hand. The template guide PC provided is visibly off-center. The engraved aluminum marks on the template ARE very light; you'd almost miss them if you didn't know that they were there. they should be deeper (can't mark with pencil lead, too shallow). Shining flashlight on edge helps.
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24) Submitted by
Mark Gearhart, from Columbus, NE
on 3/3/2010
Customer Rating:
Purchased the PC 4212. Product arrived with templates that you could not read the etching. Also the side guides were off by about 1/16". I did use the jig to cut several half blind dovetails and had some success but returned it because I do not have the time to spend setting up the jig each time and doing 4-5 test cuts each time to get it right. Platform does not hold the router stable and so it is a balancing act to say the least. Probably will purchase the Akeda although it is much more expensive.
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25) Submitted by
Murff, from Rogue River, OR
on 1/22/2012
Customer Rating:
The jig works great. If you are having issues with the through dovetails being REALLY loose, it's probably because you are not changing out the guide when you switch bits. The only place in the directions that tell you this are under "items needed" where it says to use 3/4" O.D. template guide with the dovetail bit, and use 5/8" O.D. template guide with the straight bit. For Half-Blind joints, all I needed for the perfect joint was to lower the bit a very small amount, and move the alignment line in a bit. 2nd try was a perfect tight fit not bragging about my skills here, just about how good the jig worked.
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26) Submitted by
Stephane Bureau, from Montreal, QUEBEC
on 1/2/2013
Customer Rating:
My unit is older and I do not have the issues with the markings on the templates, they are marked to about 1/16th deep! I never used the right side of the jig...and it still produces flawless through dovetails that are perfectly symmetrical. I simply adjust the left stop very precisely for centering either the pins or the tails...For half-blind dovetails, I find that the jig is more finicky to adjust, the stop being provided is not very thick and can be knocked off easily becoming out of position or out of square. The knurl adjusters can lose their position when flipping the template when doing through-dovetails, so I added 3/8 nuts with nylon inserts to lock them in place after the adjustments are made. The guide does not flex if an additional piece of wood the same thickness as the piece to be cut is inserted horizontally on the right side of the guide, which also maintains the guide in the ideal position to have all cuts exactly the same height. I also cut and screw vertically 1/4*20 screws a piece the same thickness as the sides so that the clamping bar is not skewed and moves the piece when clamping. I use 2 Porter Cable routers, so I do not need to change guides and router bits when doing through dovetails, a real time saver and quality improving solution. I can easily cut through dovetails in sequence and address any fitting issues ahead of time. This is not a very adaptable jig but performs solidly for basic dovetail joints. The guides are stable for through dovetails but tippier when doing half-blind dovetails. Since mine was purchased with a very deep discount, it was an excellent value. The current pricing between low-end and high-end models represents the value of the product. This is the perfect jig to do projects not considered "heirlooms", i.e. produce kitchen drawer cabinets with solid joinery and an efficient process.
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27) Submitted by
Jim, from Leonardo, NJ
on 2/22/2008
Customer Rating:
UPDATE...My replacement part arrived this week, alot sooner than July. Now I am very happy
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