# 2x2 Miter Joint using Dowels?



## DesignerTex (Nov 14, 2020)

I have a Jessem dowel jig that's awesome but I can't use it on 45 degree miter joints. I really don't want to buy another high dollar doweler JUST for mieter joints. Anyone have input on this? I've wracked my brain too much on this issue.

Do people even use dowels on miter joints like this? What would be the better option if not?


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

I have the JessEm 08350. Why do you say you can't do that on it? You're going perpendicular to the miter, so just clamp the jig to it with the drill guide plate flat against it. You can even flip the other board around to clamp both in there to drill it. Just be careful to mark your pieces so the hole is drilled at the same offset for both pieces or else the faces of the boards won't be flush when they come together.

There's nothing wrong with using dowels on that. Biscuits would work too. I'm sure someone will suggest the Festool Domino, which is an awesome tool if you have a spare $1000 lying around to spend on it. You also could just glue it up without any of that and cut a slot for a miter spline to strengthen it. Lots of options there.


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## DesignerTex (Nov 14, 2020)

If you go in on the slope side from the side, the line will have to be on the second board. Then you have to make sure the second board is aligned correctly. 2×2 is too small to go out past the metal clamp piece with the built in line. Just trying to avoid that or creating a jig.

I have a biscuit jointer but on 2×2 it's scetchy on being too small for those. And Dominoes, I wish  If you have a spare $1k for one, send it my way! Maybe i'll consider splines. I was just trying to make it seamless.


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

I've never had much luck lining up dowels so if I did one on an angle like that it would end up off center. On all my picture frames I do a spline like Rich suggests. I made a simple jig for the table saw. A spline allows formuch more glue surface and if using contrasting wood a design feature as well.


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## bilyo (May 20, 2015)

Another option is to glue the joint together and after the glue is dry, drill and insert dowels either perpendicular to the joint line or parallel with one of the legs. Of course, the ends of the dowels would be exposed as with the miter splines.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> If you go in on the slope side from the side, the line will have to be on the second board. Then you have to make sure the second board is aligned correctly. 2×2 is too small to go out past the metal clamp piece with the built in line. Just trying to avoid that or creating a jig.
> 
> - DesignerTex


The line has nothing to do with it. The way that jig is intended to be used is to align the hole in the adjoining piece using a dowel inserted into the hole in the first piece. For yours, clamp the two boards together either face-to-face or back-to-back with the miters aligned. Clamp the jig to the first face and drill. Precisely where along the joint isn't critical-you can just mark it with a pencil and eyeball it to get it close to centered on the line. Then, unclamp the jig, insert a dowel in that hole and clamp the jig against the other face with the dowel in the index slot and drill there.

The index slot is aligned with the center guide bushing. The ones around it can be used in cases where you're doing multiple dowels in a single joint.

BTW, the face of that fence is pretty slick. Things can tend to slip if you're not careful. I attached some 220 grit adhesive backed sandpaper to mine to stop that. Here's what it looks like:


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## DesignerTex (Nov 14, 2020)

I thought of doing it that way and flipping it over. But I had talked myself out of it for some reason. I think the frame I'm building goes in different directions and thought it would confuse me trying to keep all the alignment correct. Thought just doing each on it's own from one measurement would be more precise and less likely of me screwing it up.

I'll have to keep that in mind about the slipping. Might have to pick up some thin sandpaper.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> I thought of doing it that way and flipping it over. But I had talked myself out of it for some reason. I think the frame I m building goes in different directions and thought it would confuse me trying to keep all the alignment correct. Thought just doing each on it s own from one measurement would be more precise and less likely of me screwing it up.
> 
> I ll have to keep that in mind about the slipping. Might have to pick up some thin sandpaper.
> 
> - DesignerTex


Here's a photo of how the jig indexes off of the first dowel hole. I didn't bother drilling these boards, but if I had, that dowel would be inserted into the first hole to align the jig when you swing it around to clamp it for the second hole. I just stood it in there to show the idea.

That center line is only used for rough placement of the jig. Say you were edge joining two boards to make a panel. You'd mark a line at intervals along the face of one of the boards to indicate the position of dowels, and use that line to position the jig to it. However, that's nowhere near precise enough when you go to drill in the adjoining piece. For that, you would insert dowels into the first board's dowel holes, move the jig around and clamp it against the other face using those protruding dowels to index its position to perfectly match the position of the first hole.

A couple of things are critical. As I said before, you want to clamp your boards together face-to-face, or back-to-back. That will ensure they don't slip and leave you with holes that are misaligned. Then, be sure to clamp the jig to the face of the first board, and then move it around and clamp to the second board. That's important to ensure the dowels are equally offset from the face of the board when you go to glue it up.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> I thought of doing it that way and flipping it over. But I had talked myself out of it for some reason. I think the frame I m building goes in different directions and thought it would confuse me trying to keep all the alignment correct. Thought just doing each on it s own from one measurement would be more precise and less likely of me screwing it up.
> 
> I ll have to keep that in mind about the slipping. Might have to pick up some thin sandpaper.
> 
> - DesignerTex


Simple but effective solution for the parts. Painters tape, yellow or lime green is easier to see writing on. Blue will do but use dark marker. Label them, make a legend and then this issue goes away. I keep few rolls of tape on hand for such reasons. As far as using the Jessem jig, RICH will know plenty about that. I don't have one I just drill all the way through and use different wood for dowel. Little highlight always adds to the look. Or a miter spline, or a half lap joint. Recently used a double lap joint for a cabinet door I made for shop.

If you have the jig play with it and use the setup RICH suggested. Use some scraps and work out the kinks and oops factor. Then come back with some experience and give this a go.


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## LeeRoyMan (Feb 23, 2019)

*


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> Strong Ass Joint there….....rookie lol
> 
> - LeeRoyMan


Well that is the door I am most likely to slam.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

Whoa. LeeRoy got quoted before he killed his post. I hate it when that happens.

Great content, Gunny. I was focusing on helping Tex work with the JessEm jig, which is my favorite for doweling. Still, I'd never use a dowel in that situation.

Half-laps, bridle joints or splines would be my choice. But I see you've done that at a superpower level. Nice.

As LeeRoy said "*" LMAO.


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## HarveyM (Nov 11, 2012)

When I've done it I used the edges of the jig to align to edge of the mitered board with the fence flat on the face. Drill a couple holes on the inner part of the joint. Here's some pics

Faces & reference edge marked (I decided to change the reference edge to the pointed side in the jig)









drill your dowel holes in the meaty part of the joint (reference edge on left)









(reference edge on right)









open joint showing the dowels









closed joint


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> When I ve done I used the edges of the jig to align to edge of the mitered board with the fence flat on the face. Drill a couple holes on the inner part of the joint. Here s some pics
> 
> - HarveyM


Great photos, Harvey. They really add to the content to help Tex. Thanks for sharing them.


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## HarveyM (Nov 11, 2012)

Thanks- I put some better lighting over the workbench last week


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## LeeRoyMan (Feb 23, 2019)

> Whoa. LeeRoy got quoted before he killed his post. I hate it when that happens.
> 
> Great content, Gunny. I was focusing on helping Tex work with the JessEm jig, which is my favorite for doweling. Still, I d never use a dowel in that situation.
> 
> ...


Yep, you got to move fast if you wanna beat the Gunny. 
Doweling is easy when you have one of these. (I sold it though, wish I still had it.)


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> Great content, Gunny. I was focusing on helping Tex work with the JessEm jig, which is my favorite for doweling. Still, I d never use a dowel in that situation.
> 
> - Rich


Don't have a doweling jig just some alignment tips in a kit I found somewhere. Since you mentioned the JessEm jig maybe I need to get into that and explore it a bit.

For those dropping in here is the jig we are speaking about.

https://www.amazon.com/Jessem-Model-08350-Dowelling-Master/dp/B00E5457A0


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> For those dropping in here is the jig we are speaking about.
> 
> woodbutcherbynight


It's a really good jig. It's the only one I'm aware of that allows you to change the offset from the face without unclamping it. That way, it's easy to do arrays of dowels. I used it a few years ago when I built my bench. It's still holding strong.

Folks rave about the DowelMax too. I don't know much about it, but it sure looks like a quality jig.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Doweling is easy when you have one of these. (I sold it though, wish I still had it.)
> 
> - LeeRoyMan


I've never seen anything like it.


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## LeeRoyMan (Feb 23, 2019)

> Doweling is easy when you have one of these. (I sold it though, wish I still had it.)
> 
> - LeeRoyMan
> 
> ...


I made a lot of face framed cabinets back in the day before the European style became popular.
Just line up the index mark and step on the pedal. 
Then biscuits came around so it sat most of the time, so I sold it. 
Sure was convenient though.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

> Doweling is easy when you have one of these. (I sold it though, wish I still had it.)
> 
> - LeeRoyMan
> 
> ...


My boss likes biscuits and gravy for breakfast. One morning I told him I left him a plate in office. Took dozen #20 biscuits and poured some yellow glue over them. With a note saying he needed more fiber.

LOL


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

In the early 80's we used a doweling machine to make all our face frames, Used them so much in production I'm protective of their use.

For home usd ve always used a Craftsman turret dowel jig. It's worked fine for almost 40 years…


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## DesignerTex (Nov 14, 2020)

>


Wow, that's the best and clearest Bigfoot photo ever taken!


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## atharg00 (Aug 16, 2021)

> I ve never had much luck lining up dowels if I did one on an angle like that it would end up off center. On all my picture frames I do a spline like Rich suggests. I made a simple jig for the table saw. A spline allows formuch more glue surface and if using contrasting wood a design feature as well.
> 
> - Jeff


Looks good.


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## squazo (Nov 23, 2013)

mitered half lap.


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## LRY76 (Jan 5, 2022)

Hey gang, I am new to this site. As a test, I used 1×2 poplar scraps with one dowel only. I have to say that the joint is pretty strong. What I did is put the mitre cuts together, made a simple pencil mark (just a dot) right on the seam. Then I took the pieces apart, and used a small machinist square to make my 90 degree line using the pencil dot









.


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## bbc557ci (Sep 20, 2012)

I wouldn't bother with dowel jigs. I've been playing around with my recently built horizontal router table. I took a couple of scrap pieces of the door casings I made, cut a 45* on two pieces, then chucked a 1/8 in. spiral up bit in the router and cut 1/8 in. grooves about 5/16 deep on each piece (face side down). Went to the band saw and cut a few 1/8 thick "Biscuits" about 1/2 in. wide and 2 1/2 in. long. Inserted them in the grooves, tapped the joint together, and attained an absolutely perfect alignment and fit. Getting the thickness of the "biscuits" just right was the only challenge. Once the biscuits are right life is good. It takes no time at all to cut the slots in the 45s.


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