Drilling for dowels in end grain???

[Bill White]

Gonna be using dowels instead of M & T for table aprons-to-legs joints. In the past I have had some probs with the bits wandering. Will use brad point drills (3/8") for the dowel holes, and will drill with the drill press.
Are there some tricks I need to know-drill speed-different drill points-hmmmm?
Bill

[Rick Thom]

Hi Bill, I think personally I would prefer a sliding dove tail instead. A biscuit or 2 would be another solution, but again not my favorite. For the dowel solution, I would want to guard against a blow-out cracking the piece when drilling or driving/pressing the dowel home. Maybe secure some hardwood blocks on either side of the members (in a vice or clamped) when drilling and inserting the dowels. It's pretty easy to crack the block if the dowels are a bit snug. I would use a brad point, preferably without too aggressive a cut.

[Vince Shriver]

I've never experience any problem drilling dowel holes in end-grain. I use an inexpensive jig call "dowel it". There are other, and much more sophisicated, jigs on the market that allow for more versalitility. Whatever you use, a dowel jig really eliminates any problem of a wondering drill bit.

[Randy Klein]

When I need no wandering drilling, I use this (http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=811564&FamilyID=782).

http://www.woodcraft.com/images/products/811564_230.jpg

[Randall Frey]

I think it pretty hard to control a drill bit from wondering in end grain. Do yourself a big favor and get a dowelling jig. It will hold the bit right where you want it. I have used several dowelling jigs and had ok results. I bought the Dowel Max and wow, that thing is very precise, so much so that I use doweling more in my work than before. Good luck.