# An Old Master



## ChesapeakeBob

Danny, great tool and great review. Thanks. Chesapeake Bob


----------



## thom

I have never had a problem using mine with twist bits or a powered drill motor. Actually the faster the twist bit turns the cleaner the hole. There were two Drill bit "stops" supplied with the doweling jig over the years. I suspect you may be trying to use the auger bit stop with a twist bit and that might explain why you had better luck with an auger. (I just looked back at your photos an note you do have the bit stop designed for use with twist bits in both pictures.)

To use the jig, lay the boards flat on the bench and make a tick mark across the joints where you want the dowels. On the jig there is an index mark that you line up with the tick mark prior to clamping it tight. When you finish drilling the first hole to a depth half the length of the dowel (plus 1/8th or so) you reposition the jig on the other board an repeat the forementioned steps. Add glue, drive the dowel home, position the mating piece over the other end of the exposed dowel and clamp it tight. The only caution would be to not use to much glue since that might prevent the dowel from seating all the way in. I have actually seen the wood split near the ends of a board from the hydraulic pressure created by trying to compress the glue as a liquid. To apply the glue in the holes I find the best applicator to be two pipe cleaners folded over each other in the middle.

Haven't used to many dowels since biscuit jointers came out since the biscuit holes are so much faster to index and drill. Dowels still have their uses yet, especially when repairing older furniture.


----------



## pmf2000

I bought this on E-bay to help fix my Father-in-law's chair for $25. The intention was to resell it when we were done. This doweling jig has found a permanent spot in my shop. It's incredibly easy to use and works along side my Dowelmax. I have to disagree about the power tool portion however. I use mine with my electric drill every time without incident.

Nice review!


----------



## mamell

I've been using my old #59 with a battery powered drill for some time with no problems at all and paid $8± around $3 for the postage. The only drawback I've found so far is the little alignment notch at the top isn't quite as precise as I would like so I kind of eyeball the center of the 1/32nd notch and everything comes out good.. 
One other thing that sometimes annoys me is you can only drill one hole at a time before resetting the notch with your markings which isn't really that big of a deal unless you're drilling out 64 different holes for a bunch of dowels. I recently built an auxiliary bench with 1/2" dowels .. 3 pins per stretcher and 12 separate stretchers for a total of 144 holes drilled.. That was time consuming, but it all came out nice and square..That 1/2" bit is a tad dull now, but it got the job done and the bench is rock solid. 
Well worth the 11 smackaroonies.. 
Oh, and one other issue easy to fix is the end of the hold down tightening piece has a steel crosshatch surface that can mar your wood pieces so I glued a thin piece of <8th inch material to it with a bit of epoxy.. Problem solved..


----------



## Napkin

When I started in cabinet trade many shops were still dowelling their frames together. Face frame screws pocket were just taking off. Many cabinet makers and carpenters had this in their tool box, usually for repairs or odd ball applications. I used one for side jobs I did at home in my garage shop. Hundreds of holes with a power drill. I made two modifications : glued a plywood pad on the holdown and substituted an industrial guide bushing for the crappy drill bushings Stanley supplied. This threw off the placement gauge but it did not get sloppy over time. These doweling jigs index off of the face side of the wood, instead of centering on the edge of the board. This was a real advantage if your wood was not exactly the same thickness. I lost my original I bought in the late 70's but recently purchased an even older one that was much heavier construction. It was nice to find my old friend again.


----------

