Comments on: Dowel Joinery On The Cheap With Dowel Centers http://toolmonger.com/2008/02/27/dowel-joinery-on-the-cheap-with-dowel-centers/ All tools. All the time. Your source for news, information, and reviews of hand tools, power tools, and tools of all kinds. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Fred http://toolmonger.com/2008/02/27/dowel-joinery-on-the-cheap-with-dowel-centers/#comment-244221 Fred Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:28:51 +0000 http://toolmonger.com/2008/02/27/dowel-joinery-on-the-cheap-with-dowel-centers/#comment-244221 These are like miniature transfer or spotting punches that can be had in sets out of the Grizzly Tool Catalog and lots of other machine tool sources. The work good to transfer the center for a made hole to a mark on another piece. Ther are not precise enough for doweling - especially when you want 2 or more dowel holes to line-up perfectly and the wood surfaces to be dead-on flat. The same is true for some cheap doweling jigs (Old Stanley, Newer General Tools, Grizzly etc.) Dowels have been around for many many years and old journeymen cabinetmakers took the time to precisely line them up, fit the parts together and then plane everything to correct for any imperfections that showed up in slightly mismated parts. If your serious about using dowels in making furniture, try a Dowelmax http://www.amazon.com/Dowelmax-Precision-Engineered-Drill-Guides/dp/B00021ULRE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1204147157&sr=1-1 Absolutely the only thing wrong with it is the price. These are like miniature transfer or spotting punches that can be had in sets out of the Grizzly Tool Catalog and lots of other machine tool sources. The work good to transfer the center for a made hole to a mark on another piece. Ther are not precise enough for doweling - especially when you want 2 or more dowel holes to line-up perfectly and the wood surfaces to be dead-on flat. The same is true for some cheap doweling jigs (Old Stanley, Newer General Tools, Grizzly etc.) Dowels have been around for many many years and old journeymen cabinetmakers took the time to precisely line them up, fit the parts together and then plane everything to correct for any imperfections that showed up in slightly mismated parts.

If your serious about using dowels in making furniture, try a Dowelmax

http://www.amazon.com/Dowelmax-Precision-Engineered-Drill-Guides/dp/B00021ULRE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1204147157&sr=1-1

Absolutely the only thing wrong with it is the price.

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