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Thread: Doweling Jig Recommendations Please

  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Huber View Post
    Mike have you ever use a DowelMax or a Jessem jig?
    The alignment is just not a problem at all, again that is the great thing about these jigs. You use a reference plate for all the holes and as long as you are using the same reference for all parts you will get a perfect aligned joint.
    I have a dowel jig but not the DowelMax or Jessem. I can easily see that alignment top-to-bottom can be maintained with a jig. The jig I have will put the hole exactly in the middle of the wood (if that's what I want). The problem is how to get alignment of the holes along the edge (side-to-side). If one hole is drilled just a millimeter or two to the side of the corresponding hole in the other piece, things will not line up when you go to put the pieces together.

    Let's say you use four dowels to edge join two pieces of plywood. Three of the hole pairs match up exactly, but one hole pair is off by two mm. When you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, they won't go together. You then have to drill the offending hole oversize or hammer the pieces together.

    Compare that to a biscuit joiner or Domino. The alignment of the slots/mortises can be maintained from the reference surface (one face of the plywood), but the slots/mortises are wider than the biscuit or domino that goes into them. So when you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, you have some side to side slop to work with. You never have a situation where the pieces will not go together.

    Also, I find the biscuit joiner or Domino a lot faster than the set-up of a dowel jig.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
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    2,479
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I have a dowel jig but not the DowelMax or Jessem. I can easily see that alignment top-to-bottom can be maintained with a jig. The jig I have will put the hole exactly in the middle of the wood (if that's what I want). The problem is how to get alignment of the holes along the edge (side-to-side). If one hole is drilled just a millimeter or two to the side of the corresponding hole in the other piece, things will not line up when you go to put the pieces together.

    Let's say you use four dowels to edge join two pieces of plywood. Three of the hole pairs match up exactly, but one hole pair is off by two mm. When you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, they won't go together. You then have to drill the offending hole oversize or hammer the pieces together.

    Compare that to a biscuit joiner or Domino. The alignment of the slots/mortises can be maintained from the reference surface (one face of the plywood), but the slots/mortises are wider than the biscuit or domino that goes into them. So when you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, you have some side to side slop to work with. You never have a situation where the pieces will not go together.

    Also, I find the biscuit joiner or Domino a lot faster than the set-up of a dowel jig.

    Mike
    to address this issue, you'd loos a pin (like a dowel) to make sure the distances of the dowels are exactly the same, you use that pin to fix one of the dowel jig holes with the holes you have
    drilled. As long as your dowels are not more than 12" or so apart getting them precisely the same distance is not a problem at all.

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I have a dowel jig but not the DowelMax or Jessem. I can easily see that alignment top-to-bottom can be maintained with a jig. The jig I have will put the hole exactly in the middle of the wood (if that's what I want). The problem is how to get alignment of the holes along the edge (side-to-side). If one hole is drilled just a millimeter or two to the side of the corresponding hole in the other piece, things will not line up when you go to put the pieces together.

    Let's say you use four dowels to edge join two pieces of plywood. Three of the hole pairs match up exactly, but one hole pair is off by two mm. When you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, they won't go together. You then have to drill the offending hole oversize or hammer the pieces together.

    Compare that to a biscuit joiner or Domino. The alignment of the slots/mortises can be maintained from the reference surface (one face of the plywood), but the slots/mortises are wider than the biscuit or domino that goes into them. So when you go to put the two pieces of plywood together, you have some side to side slop to work with. You never have a situation where the pieces will not go together.

    Also, I find the biscuit joiner or Domino a lot faster than the set-up of a dowel jig.

    Mike
    It is obvious that there is nothing anyone can say for you to understand that these jigs are very very accurate, these are not your normal old dowel jig. I can join two boards together with these jigs and you can not feel the joint. By using the spacer rods you can space the dowels just as accurate.
    These jig are just as accurate as a Domino and cost much much less.
    I just don't see why you keep coming back with the same old thing about accuracy when you have never used one.

  4. #34
    I am with Bill H. At least with the Dowelmax, I'd put it up head to head against ANY jig - LM&T, dowel, or otherwise in terms of accuracy.

    Also in terms of speed, it's fast 'enough'. I mean, I was able to make all apron and leg joints for a table in about 10 minutes - and most important it was so easy to use.

    Personally, I find plenty of proper applications for dowels.

  5. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Huber View Post
    It is obvious that there is nothing anyone can say for you to understand that these jigs are very very accurate, these are not your normal old dowel jig. I can join two boards together with these jigs and you can not feel the joint. By using the spacer rods you can space the dowels just as accurate.
    These jig are just as accurate as a Domino and cost much much less.
    I just don't see why you keep coming back with the same old thing about accuracy when you have never used one.
    Actually, I never praised the Domino as being exceptionally accurate. What I said was that the Domino (or a biscuit joiner) can be very accurate to the reference surface, as can be a dowel jig.

    The advantage of the Domino (or biscuit joiner) is that they don't have to be accurate in the perpendicular direction because the slot or mortise can be made wider than necessary. They only require accuracy in one dimension.

    The problem with any dowel jig is that it must be accurate in two dimensions or the dowels will not line up. I'm sure that dowel jigs can be made that can be accurate in two dimensions but they may require additional equipment to get the second dimension accuracy, and may require additional time to set up for that accuracy. With the Domino or biscuit joiner, you draw a line across the two pieces where you want the biscuit/domino and push your tool into the wood at that approximate location. You can cut slots/mortises as fast as you can move the tool from one location to another - there's no setup required for each cut.

    My preferences are just that - my preferences. I'm providing you with the rational behind my preferences. Your preferences may differ and you should use whatever you like.

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 04-01-2012 at 3:56 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  6. #36
    My only issue with Jessem is quality issues in the past. I purchased one of their items & had problems. Took weeks to resolve the problem & I ended up sending the item back. I believe it had to do with moving or selling the company. Can't remember. Hopefully someone will chime in & correct me with positive comments regarding their current status.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Camas, Wa
    Posts
    3,855
    Quote Originally Posted by joe milana View Post
    My only issue with Jessem is quality issues in the past. I purchased one of their items & had problems. Took weeks to resolve the problem & I ended up sending the item back. I believe it had to do with moving or selling the company. Can't remember. Hopefully someone will chime in & correct me with positive comments regarding their current status.

    I don't know if Jessem is having problems or not. I ordered their doweling jig from Tool Corral back in January. It was one of the few places I could find it and they have it on Sale for $175. It has been on backorder and it keeps getting pushed out. I'm was not in a hurry at the time and price was more important. That being said, DeWalt seems to be having the same problem with some of their Tracksaw parts.

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Mike,

    I took the following pictures for you to show how you can do indexing using a pin (provided with the jig) to get accurately distanced holes.
    I suppose the pictures are clear enough to show the process. I didn't bother change the drill bit stop when doing the face drilling so the bit went
    all the way through (but you'd need to change the drill bit depth stop).

    DSC05041.jpgDSC05042.jpgDSC05043.jpgDSC05044.jpgDSC05045.jpgDSC05046.jpgDSC05047.jpgDSC05048.jpg

  9. #39
    Thanks, Mreza. I understand how it works.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

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