When choosing a dovetail jig for your shop, you want to uncover the ideal resource for the ideal value. Porter-Cable has two such instruments, and while the two are wonderful, only a single can stand supreme. Between the 4212 and the 4216, we feel the Porter-Cable 4216 is the better unit.
Now, don’t get us incorrect — the 4212 is a wonderful item. It does all the very same issues as the 4216, plus it has the welcome addition of currently being somewhat significantly less pricey. But when you want a jig for your woodworking needs, perform typically issues far more than cost, and the 4216 has loads of functionality as properly as added templates for enhanced versatility.
If you are looking for a dovetail jig for your property hobby store or performing your own tasks, both will do. Nonetheless, a professional woodworker, cupboard maker, or furnishings designer will value the added templates incorporated in the 4216. For the cash, it is also very good of a deal to go up. It is also the most popular with a selection of customers.
If you really do not need to have the added templates and want to conserve a handful of bucks, the 4212 is a properly satisfactory decision. But if you want options, you want to get your woodworking to the following amount, and you don’t brain shelling out the expenditure to do so, lean toward 4216. It is a better choice.
Let us get a further seem into the comparison of these two tools.
At A Glance
- Metal construction
- 25 lbs
- 12-inch dovetail kit
- Metric measurements
- 1-year warranty
- Aluminum templates
- Metal construction
- 26.8 lbs
- 12-inch dovetail kit
- Metric measurements
- 90-day guarantee
- 1-year free service
- Aluminum templates
Overview of the Porter-Cable 4212
The 4212 has the very same general build as its cousin, the 4216. It is quite standard, comes with specifically what you want to get started, and with an array of included attachments, it is pretty significantly all you will need to get your woodworking projects jigged and routed. The major entire body is produced of metal, with CNC aluminum templates to guide your wooden as you route it.
It has loads of dovetail minimize-outs, box joints, and fifty percent-blind dovetail to allow pretty significantly any angle of lower. Operationally, it is straightforward to use. With its template alignment traces and router bit depth gauges, it is easy to set-up in no time. And the route bit gauges allow for an accurate reduce with out rechecking your measurements.
The machine’s templates are produced of the very best aluminum and give the user lots of cutting accuracy, and they are quite durable for a lot of initiatives above time. And a enormous upside is in the design. It will come as one particular strong piece, with no extra assembly essential.
On the draw back, it is quite a bare-bones design. In addition, it lacks templates for conducting fantastic-tuned perform.
- Sandpaper-backed locking bars grip wood
- Easy to set
- Affordable
- Solid steel construction
- Base model
- Lacks templates for fine-tuned work
Overview of the Porter-Cable 4216
What sets the 4216 apart from the 4212 is the extra templates included with the device. That’s also the cause it has a a bit increased value tag. Apart from this, these two models are incredibly related in create and attributes. They are similarly productive at dealing with your woodworking demands with ease and precision.
The 4216 accepts all the identical aluminum templates designed for this unit. It has adequate inside the bundle that you should not need to acquire more except if carrying out something really intricate past the scope of the recent templates.
Generally talking, this model is a much better selection for a specialist woodworker who does not desire to hunt for the template to allow for more thorough perform.
- Extra templates for more precise angles
- Locks wood in tight
- Easy to set up and use
- Higher price tag
- Heavier than the 4212
What Are the Differences Between Them?
Performance
Slight Edge: Porter Cable 4216
The 4216 has further templates that make it much more adaptable for executing far more intricate and precise cuts. However, the device itself operates identically to the 4212, so, although it advantages from the additional templates, there is no functionality edge in the unit by itself.
Price
Edge: Porter Cable 4212
Because it is a base product, the cost is by natural means reduce than the 4216, which provides extra templates. The big difference in the price is minimum, but it is still the less expensive alternative. The only caveat to this is in the template cost. Some templates are more expensive than the price tag big difference between these two tools. So, in the conclude, it is a clean.
Durability
Edge: Tie
The two are created of the very same large-grade steel during, and the templates are made of leading-high quality aluminum.
Design
Edge: Tie
They are similar in each and every respect as it relates to style.
What Users Say
Most customers are overjoyed with these models. They enjoy how easy they are to use, how even a beginner can run them with skill and precision, and that they are stable and sturdy units. Mechanically, they are quite audio, and even the recommendations have been basic to realize and follow.
Consumers confess there is some practice included in acquiring your routing and jigging templates just appropriate for the cuts. But all in all, the testimonials demonstrate a thrilled group of customers, numerous of whom don’t feel the value is too steep for these kinds of top quality resources. The only suggestion from customers is to read the guide yet again and once again.
Among the two types, newbies desire the 4212. And it is not for the value, but the practice. The far more intricate templates look challenging but also also tempting not to try. Just for the sake of assuaging the temptation, they went with the base model. Learn woodworkers, on the other hand, a lot choose the 4216. It is just more versatile.
A few scattered consumers gained their unit with elements dented or missing, which is enough to leave a undesirable flavor in anyone’s mouth. But the actual crux was when making an attempt to get Porter-Cable’s customer help providers. On typical, it took a week to attain an real human voice.
Conclusion
These are the two fantastic resources. For jigs and routing, obtaining a stable and durable unit to maintain and guide your cuts will save a tremendous amount of headache. Can it be carried out by hand? Positive. But this different will save you a good deal of time and plenty of wasted wood.
The very clear winner below is the Porter-Cable 4216. It has the added reward of the further templates, but even with that, the cost is not considerably higher, which tends to make it even far more advantageous. For house, for commercial work, the 4216 is the a single to have.
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