Review on 🔧 PORTER-CABLE 12-Inch Dovetail Jig (4210) Silver - Achieve Perfect Dovetail Joints with Ease! by Chuck Hernandez

There are other good reviews and tips but I found two things that were useful.1. Some others have found that the parts don't align perfectly, and this is because the offset guide doesn't exactly offset the parts by 1/2 inch. Several solutions have been mentioned, but I found the easiest to use a small piece of tape on the edge of the vertical part of the rail. For me this shifts the vertical part (tails) a bit to the right and gives the correct offset (1/2 inch). I actually used 2 pieces of tape (1 thickness of tape wasn't enough). However, I think the most important thing is to measure the displacement before the cut. Use the guide to position and clamp the pieces, but measure before cutting to ensure there is a 1/2 inch offset. You'll probably need to lift the template to get a good measurement. Then simply put the template back on, fix it and cut it out.2. The guide sleeve may not be a perfect circle. It can be just a few thousandths of an inch oval. When first cut, the tails were too big "in a circle" (seen from the side) and wouldn't fit in the pins even with a hammer. I then rotated the router 45 degrees and the joint came together easily by hand. What happened is that when I turned the cutter I used part of the guide bush that was actually slightly smaller (in diameter) meaning the ends got a bit smaller, and the pins (actually the gaps between the pins where the tails fit in) are slightly larger. If you cannot find a guide bushing position that gives the correct fit, you can carefully file the sides of the bushing a few thousandths at a time until you get a good fit. Once you've found the part of the guide bush that fits perfectly, you can mark the opposite sides with a permanent marker. Then rotate the socket in the base plate so the marks are parallel to the router handles, allowing you to make cuts when the router handles are in a comfortable position (parallel to the width of the jig and wood). The marks will also come in handy when reinstalling the base plate and bushing later. Basically, the device is very good. It's very strong and the clamps hold the wood really well. The main downside is the misaligned guide (mine was misaligned by almost 1/16 inch (two layers of tape)). Back then, the slightly misaligned guide bushing was an issue until I figured it out.