Thread: are dowels still used

I've decided to get a jig, probably the Ozzie after the recommendations from here.
I thought I'd wait a little while and see if any come up on Ebay and I came across this one. Anyone familiar with it??

Cheers

Bob K

Originally Posted by notenoughtoys

I've decided to get a jig, probably the Ozzie after the recommendations from here.
I thought I'd wait a little while and see if any come up on Ebay and I came across this one. Anyone familiar with it??

Cheers

Bob K

Where's the link bob or the e-bay number

Was wondering the same thing

Originally Posted by Ashore

Where's the link bob or the e-bay number

well spotted,
(guess I'll have to change my signature now )

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=007

the other two are a Jifkins jig FYI and also a drill doctor I'm considering purchasing, with a buy it now price of $249 + $10 p&H which is a pretty goof price isn't it??


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=014

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=007

Hi everybody. As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I have a GMC dowel joiner. Was asked privately to elaborate, so I visited the GMC site. I got nowhere. It would look like GMC only does a biscuit joiner these days. Tried to google "dowel joiner", got to the same place. Looks like these machines have disappeared from the face of the earth.

Anybody knows what is happening? I thought of resurrecting this thread because the consensus appeared to be very much in favour of dowels and this situation looks strange.

BTW, I have not been dreaming. here is the photo to prove it.

Originally Posted by Ashore

A lot of talk on the forum is about mortice and tennon, biscuits, dominoes, dovetails, finger joints and very little about dowels.

Mortice and tennons and dovetails if hand cut you need some skills,
Dominoes you need some money
Finger joints take a good jig and are time expensive,
Biscuits then need some skill for alignment when clamping
but Dowels with a GOOD jig produce IMO the best results for the least amount of expertise and $ outlayed espically when you have the dowels

you're not talking about one of these beauties are you
to quote the blurb ...

Mafell's DD40 DuoDowel Jointer is an unparalleled product worldwide. The use of conventional wooden dowels in combination with the handy DD40 DuoDowel Jointer has triggered a revolution in portable joining. Furthermore, the DD40 system is faster, more precise and less expensive than any of its rivals.

ian

Frank&E
my guess is that Mafell have served a cease and desist on GMC

Originally Posted by notenoughtoys

well spotted,
(guess I'll have to change my signature now )

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=007

That brings back memories! I bought one of those a long time ago and made my first kitchen cupboards and some wardrobes with it. Not a bad little jig

Originally Posted by ian

you're not talking about one of these beauties are you

to quote the blurb ...

Mafell's DD40 DuoDowel Jointer is an unparalleled product worldwide. The use of conventional wooden dowels in combination with the handy DD40 DuoDowel Jointer has triggered a revolution in portable joining. Furthermore, the DD40 system is faster, more precise and less expensive than any of its rivals.

ian

Thats a fantastic bit of gear and if its less than a domino worth every penny ....but will it do variable angle joints for louver doors

Originally Posted by ian

Frank&E
my guess is that Mafell have served a cease and desist on GMC

Yeah, they look extremely similar, don't they? On the other hand all circular saws look the same, can't see any manufacturer getting shirty about them.

BTW, how much does the Mafell cost?

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

Yeah, they look extremely similar, don't they? On the other hand all circular saws look the same, can't see any manufacturer getting shirty about them.

yeah, but circular saws have been around "forever" so are well beyond patent protection

BTW, how much does the Mafell cost? GBP 310 (excluding VAT), for comparison
Domino Jointer GBP 436
Lamello TOP20S3 biscuit Jointer GBP416
Lamello Clasic biscuit Jointer GBP 255
Makita 3901 biscuit Jointer GBP177

Originally Posted by Ashore

Thats a fantastic bit of gear and if its less than a domino worth every penny ....but will it do variable angle joints for louver doors

That Duo joiner was selling at Haffle here in Melbourne 18 months ago for around $1350. Over $100 more than the Doimo and no where near as versatile.

Im not sure if the price has been dropped, but i doubt many would now be sold because of Domi

And as a side note, go talk to any furniture restorer and ask what is the most common join failure, and the answer is dowels. Easy to use, but even with the quality adhesives of today, not a trustworthy join

Originally Posted by Ashore

but will it do variable angle joints for louver doors

You need to see the louver doors made with a domino over at FOG. Brilliant and super fast and accurate

Originally Posted by Lignum

That Duo joiner was selling at Haffle here in Melbourne 18 months ago for around $1350.

Gee, anybody interested in a GMC clone for a very reasonable $900?

And as a side note, go talk to any furniture restorer and ask what is the most common join failure, and the answer is dowels. Easy to use, but even with the quality adhesives of today, not a trustworthy join

Well, maybe it's the luck of the beginnners, but I copy here an old experience of mine:

... Went out to buy another couple of chairs for our cheap kitchen meals table but the local maker had gone bust, as many did and do. So, ... I bought some pine at the hardware store and knocked them up in a day myself. The only difference with the original (in the photo for comparison) is that not having a dowelling machine I just drilled through both pieces at once and cut the dowels flush after hammering them in. 10 years later, still going strong!<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
<FIELDSET class=fieldset><LEGEND>Attached Thumbnails</LEGEND>
</FIELDSET>