Thread: Dowelling jigs? Your recommendations?

Dowels are used in modern furniture for things like chairs and cabinets; they are reasonably strong but are now being superseded by the Festool Domino which produces a much stronger joint. To my knowledge only a proper mortice and tenon joint is stronger.

But back to the jigs; I wouldn't bother with a self centering one as there are too many times when you need to offset the dowels. The upper end Haron one would probably be OK but not ever having used it I can't really comment.

I have an old Stanley (59?) plus a home made jig made from aluminum.

For dowels I use the Haron ones from Bunnies. These are made from American beech and are very strong, just like their biscuits. Avoid any Australian made dowels unless you can positively identify the wood they are made from as being a proper hardwood and suitable for your application.

I would go with the self centering jig very simple to use, dowels are available from porta mouldings in bulk and from resllers in small quantities
and are Australian made and are far from being supperceded

Hello,

A lot of people give dowels a poor rating however in my experience they work just fine unless you need ultimate strength which most of us don't. I own the self centering jig you are looking at from Carbatec. My impressions of it are mixed. It isn't the most accurate of tools simply because there is always some play in the drill bit and the slot, so small deviations are possible, especially when drilling into end grain. However if you account for this then there is no reason you can't turn out a nice piece of furniture. Just don't expect miracles.

In terms of other comments regarding the use offset dowels, this is possible by inserting suitable scrap piece on one side of the jaws, thereby offsetting the 'centering' by the same amount. Obviously this is dependent on the width of your material and whether you can fit the scrap piece between the jaws.

In regards to the quality of dowels i don't think you will notice a massive difference in the type of timber you use (ie hardwood vs pine), the strength of both will be adequate in terms of pulling or sheer forces that may be applied to either...again you just don't need that sort of strength most of the time and if you do you can always use multiple dowels. The grooved dowels are good when the dowels don't show as they hold more glue and allow for easier glue up.

Just give it a go, it's a good way to start your journey into furniture building.

The first thing i built with this jig when i got it was a set of stools, they turned out great and the joints are still going strong, no cracks, no movement, no problems. Here is the link if you are interested in the method i used.

Good Luck and post some pictures of your work when you begin.
Mat

Have a look at this site LPlates. Has a good number of articles on using dowels and jigs.

https://woodgears.ca/dowel/t-square.html

Australian Woodworker had a three part article on doweling and making your own jigs to suit the job at hand which was very good(in the last nine months I think).

I have made some of the jigs myself and they worked very well.

Have you considered making your own doweling jig?

Glue a couple of Baltic Birch (19 MM) into an "L" shape. Then install a drill guide. They are hardened metal and won't let the drill bit wander. They are available from industrial supply houses like McMaster-Carr, here. I don't know if they will ship internationally.

You might have to make a few with a variety of offsets.

I have three jigs in my draw with the most recent limited edition purchase from Woodpeckers being the best.