rjherald Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 first off, i hope you and the family are well. secondly, i have decided to spend the rest of my life doing woodworking. I was laid off in 2004 from a high paying computer network gig at Charles Schwab and have been working part time jobs since then...just got laid off from the last one recently so since the powers that be do not want to hire old folks(i'm 60) i have decided to use the rest of my time in this reality doing what i love. so for the question...... since i will probably start building furniture for my kids and charging nothing for a while, do you think a rockler dovetail jig would suffice? Someday if i start charging for work i would like to get the D4 but for now all i can foresee is dovetailing drawers and not much else. i have heard rumors that rockler redesigned the jig so it is better than past iterations. Perhaps the Porter Cable 4212???? Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks in advance for the help bob herald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Hey Bob. Sorry for the delayed response. Lots going on in my life right now. Truth is, I am not to familiar with some of the more budget friendly models. I used to own the Rockler jig (older version), and I really didn't enjoy using it. I am sure by now they have improved on it dramatically. So honestly, just about any dovetail jig you get today will indeed produce good quality dovetails. It might just be a little more fussy to set up. And I am not sure if it is possible, but here's something I learned the hard way over the years. If you really want a particular tool, but you don't have the budget for it right now, it is nearly always better to simply hold off and save up instead of buying something cheaper now. The "cheaper" purchase still sets you back and now you've invested in a tool that really isn't the one you truly wanted. So waiting a few months and saving up is usually the better choice in the long run (at least for me). Obviously if you need to cut lots of dovetails immediately and you don't want to cut them by hand, that won't work for you. Best of luck and kudos on pursuing your passion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Ive spent the last few days abusing a pair of 4216's same as the 4212 with extra template. I will say that for the money you cant beat the PC if all you want to do is drawers, especially half blinds. I dedicated a router to each jig and once they were set up they produce nice half blind quick and easy. The no dust collection is a drag but I figured out that a bigmouth dust port works to collect most of the mess. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I have the pc 4212, and so far it has made nice half blinds and mini half blinds. I just moved, so my tools are all cluttered about my garage at the moment, but once i get settled in and get caught up on my projects in progress, I want to make a few drawer boxes and some small doo-dad boxes with this jig. I have used maple mostly and had some tear-out issues, so I will definitely need to work on that with some test pieces, and I also want to try using aspen and see how that routes, never tried it yet. Hey Bob, good luck with your research and purchase. I know I get frustrated at times when I want a tool real bad but its just financially out of reach. If you're a good boy maybe santa will get you what you want =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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