# porter cable 4216 jig



## Da Mrs. (Oct 27, 2010)

woke up today to having me Hubby bringing me da new Porter cable 4216 dovetail Jig. {next came da cup of coffee} NOW thats a way to start a day.
ripped open da box yep all the parts are here so lets see how it all go's together
WOW ,,,, confusing manual 
{espically when you have never seen one of these work befor}
off to the web I flew manual in one hand coffee in the other.
NOW i found on yourtube the omni Jig dovetail system. an ya I can see the simularitys. BUT it still is NOT the basic Porter cable 4216 Jig like this one is.
soooooooo 
figured after 10.5 hours of reading figuring viewing simular jigs I would ask you 
folks, Any links for the how to use the Porter cable 4216
yep have the porter cable router the 1/4 & 1/2 inch collers an all da stuff I need to 
use it But I like my finders attached to my body to much to go off half informed
an have any bad bad boo boo's happen ya know.
so if you can direct me to a few links of how to 
THAT WOULD BE GREAT.

thanks


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

welcome to the community Mrs.....

give this a try for starters...

Search Results porter cable dovetail jig — Woodworking Online

4200 Series Dovetail Jigs
advanced dovetail joints....


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## Da Mrs. (Oct 27, 2010)

Thanks ever so much twoskies
helps to know when your trying to learn something
ITS ON the thing your trying to learn.

so am 
off to start reading an viewing some more.
THANKS AGAIN!

an I am at 4 posts not almost 1/2 to the 10 post min.
then I can post a pic of why I appreciate all da help you folks are offering me.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

its alllllllllllllllllllllll good Mrs... Enjoy...

lets us know how your progressing...


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## Da Mrs. (Oct 27, 2010)

Thanks ever so much twoskies
helps to know when your trying to learn something
ITS ON the thing your trying to learn.

so am 
off to start reading an viewing some more.
THANKS AGAIN!

an I am at 4 posts almost 1/2 to the 10 post min.
then I can post a pic of why I appreciate all da help you folks are offering me.


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## Ralph Barker (Dec 15, 2008)

The PC manual for the 4200 series isn't written well, but the necessary info is there - just hard to understand. 

A couple of points that are under-stressed in the manual is the importance of staying with the recommended material dimensions, and the importance of measuring for the initial offset (the little piece you set to place the edge of the stock against. If you do both of those things carefully, the result is nicely symmetrical DTs. Otherwise, it gets a little messy, and you may end up with funky offsets that need to be trimmed after assembly.

Also, follow their layout suggestions and mark your stock accordingly. Without the markings, it's easy to get confused part way through. 

Oh, and be sure that your corresponding pieces are _exactly_ the same length, and that they are perfectly square. A shooting board comes in handy for that purpose.

There's a little stop gauge on the left for setting bit depth. If you use a piece of your stock to set that, adjusting the bit to the right depth is a cinch. 

The newer OmniJig is much more versatile, but it's large, heavy and correspondingly more complex to set up. The 4200-series jigs are easy to get consistent results with regularly-spaced DTs (through or half-blind).


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## RouterNooby (Dec 13, 2011)

Hey everyone, 

I am new to the forum and in need of some major help. I am new to wood working and am on my own in trying to learn everything. I was given the Porter Cable 4216 Dovetail Jig for my birthday, and recently I purchased the Bosch 1617EVS router. 

Once I had all the pieces for the router, I was able to use it. But the Dovetail jig is a different beast and its very frustrating to use. For my first joint, I am trying to create a dado/tenon joint. I figured I would start easy and work my way up. Cutting the dado was easy, the instructions were clear. Cutting the tenon board was totally different. From what I could tell from the instructions, its a matter of guessing as to determine your cut depth. There are no guides on where to set the template so that your final cut fits like a glove. If I am reading the instructions right, I am suppose to cut and keep cutting until the joints fit.

Am I missing something? Isn't the point of a template, to avoid guess work?


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## TomE (Dec 17, 2010)

Overlord said:


> .... If I am reading the instructions right, I am suppose to cut and keep cutting until the joints fit.
> 
> Am I missing something? Isn't the point of a template, to avoid guess work?


Haven't tried a tenon cut on the jig but cutting dovetails can involve some test cuts. 

Once the jig is setup properly, then the production cutting begins.

A template allows for repeatability with accuracy but the template/jig still needs to be setup and verified by the user.


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## KenBee (Jan 1, 2011)

I do not understand why so many people have so much trouble using the PC 4200 Manual. I have a 4216 jig and after one run through I was able to rout out nearly perfect dovetails with the supplied manual instructions. The only explanation I can see is that all jigs don't come with the same manual but that makes no sense either. Actually you can just about set the jig to route dovetails from the instructions and diagrams printed on the jig itself.

BTW I am not trying to be a smart a$$ here, but I do find it interesting that several people have posted they have trouble with the 4200 series manual when I find it an excellent and well written set of instructions.


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