DowelMax precision dowel jig

I don’t have a dowel jig at the moment…you’ve sold me.

-- /\/\/\ BarryW /\/\/\ Stay so busy you don't have time to die.

Sounds awesome. I haven’t had the pleasure of using a doweling jig before. I had to do some without once and that is hell. I think I spring for the headache proof version you’ve suggested.

-- Happy Ripping!!!

I have one of these, made by a different manufacturer. It has a screw adjustment, so it works on any thickness of wood, self centering. I think I got it from Grizzly. I use mine all the time for drilling peg holes in the sides of table tops. Great little tool.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Great review. I’ll have to look into one of these.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Thanks for the post! Your grandson should be happy as the wood is beautiful, couldn’t buy one that nice at the store.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

DowelMax is near the top of my “must have” list.

-- Maplewood, MN

I have both a horizontal boring machine and the DowelMAX. If I have to dowel 1/4 or 3/8” material my FIRST choice is the DowelMAX. The accuracy and repeatability of the tool is “spot on”. The is the only choice for a home workshop doweling solution. Not cheap, but worth it!! I have made additional spacers to allow for various setbacks from the edge as well as flush.

-- Phil, Near San Diego, CA

Nice review Lee. I seem to recall MsDebbie singing the praises of the Dowel Max as well. I guess I’ll to put it back on the front burner and give it another look. Something about M&T joints just scare me. Dowel Max might be my best bet.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

When my Dowel Max came I was too impatient to read the printed instructions. I relied on my memory of the internet demo. I drill 5 holes in each piece, inserted the dowels and squeezed all together by hand. It was flush all around! There was no need for the dead blow hammer. I built a work bench with it. Ten dowels per joint, 4 joints per leg set. These 40 dowels all lined up. As with a joints, your lumbers must be jointed and cut square. I’m now working on a cabinet for the bench.

-- Tony, Sacramento

I have a DowelMax. Love it.

-- Bruce from Central New York

not sure what the thickness issue is. You can adjust the tool in so many different ways.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

MsDebbieP it could be that we have used it so little we have yet to discover all that it can do.

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

nice review. I also hear that they are great.

-- making sawdust....

Now that I have had my Dmax for a couple of months and put it thru some of its paces on several projects and the verdict is that this is a tool that lives up to its advertised capabilities. when used as instructed the dowels match up perfectly each and every time, the times that it doesn’t will always be a ‘duuuuh’ moment. The precision of fabrication and the quality of the metals is top notch. The learning curve is almost none existent as the DVD and book are very easy to comprehend and follow even for a ‘learning’ challenged person such as myself.

It even works in a ‘freehand’ mode, I used it to place a pivoting dowel in a round knoib for a rotating spice cabinet latch and it worked perfectly after doing a little rasping on the dowel to give it free movement in the hole. It has also been used for a ‘thru dowel’ allowing the dowel ends to show and creating an exposed dowel. I have shipped in some cherry, oak and walnut doweling that is used in these applications and use this as a filler plug on top of the ‘real’ dowel to give the desired look.

A couple of things to know, the bit will clog up rather easily and it may take 2 or 3 passes to get to the correct depth. Take time to adjust the hole depths (via the drill bit collar) especially when drilling thru the thickness of a board of 1 inch or less.

The 1/4” dowelling system is well worth the money and allows for some much thinner board applications.

All in all I would definitely buy this tool again and only regret that quality and accurately sized dowels are hard to find in Thailand so I have purchased a LN dowel plate to fine tune the ‘iffy’ dowels purchased here.

It has made assembly a breeze and is definitely a tool that will live beyond my years on the planet. It has gained my respect and I even designed and built a box to house all the various parts (can be viewed in my home page projects)

-- I can so I wood but why are my learning curves always circles