Good demo of the Dowelmax by Woodwhisperer..

[Brian Penning]

Wasn't aware that Krenov used dowels..

Trying to figure out how he centred the 5/8" thick board with the jig...

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/drill-charging-station-dowelmax/

[Bill Huber]

Wasn't aware that Krenov used dowels..

Trying to figure out how he centred the 5/8" thick board with the jig...

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/drill-charging-station-dowelmax/


Brian, that is one of the great things about the DowelMax, you don't have to worry about centering it. Being that you are using the same reference face when you drill your holes they will always be a correct match with the mating part.

[Brian Penning]

Yeah, I'm well aware of that Bill, but if you take a 5/8" thick board and use the DM without any spacers you'd get the 3/8" holes way off-center, no?
You'd get 1/16" on one side of the hole, 3/8" hole and then 3/16" on the other side of the hole. This is what I can't figure out.

[Bill Huber]

Yeah, I'm well aware of that Bill, but if you take a 5/8" thick board and use the DM without any spacers you'd get the 3/8" holes way off-center, no?
You'd get 1/16" on one side of the hole, 3/8" hole and then 3/16" on the other side of the hole. This is what I can't figure out.

Yes that is true but what does it matter that it is not centered?

In his video you can see that the hole in the end of the 5/8 is not centered.

[Brian Penning]

Doesn't matter that much at all -it just confused me seeing the holes looking fairly well centred.

[Tom Esh]

...
Trying to figure out how he centred the 5/8" thick board with the jig...

He didn't. The jig does come with some 1/16 precision shims for that purpose, but like Bill said, it's really not necessary to have them dead center.

[Mike Cameron]

Trying to figure out how he centred the 5/8" thick board with the jig

I posted on the Cdn Woodworking forum as well, but figured I would post here as well.

Wasn't Marc using 3/4" thick material? Centering isn't absolutely necessary, but from what I took from the manual, to center on any thickness of wood you divide the thickness in half and then subtract 3/8" to determine the size of spacer you would need to use.

1 1/2": 1 1/2 x 1/2=3/4. Subtract 3/8 to get 3/8.
3/4": 3/4 x 1/2=3/8. Subtract 3/8 to get zero (ie. no spacers needed).
5/8": 5/8 x 1/2=5/16. Subtract 3/8 to get -1/16.
1/2": 1/2 x 1/2=1/4. Subtract 3/8 to get -1/8.

So for 5/8 and 1/2 we get negative values. With the 1/4" guide kit, it comes with a 1/8" reference plate that you install to the reference block. So to center on 1/2" stock, you would just install that reference plate and have no spacers (ie. -1/8"). To center on 5/8" stock, you would install that reference plate as well as use the 1/16" washers as a spacer to get a difference of -1/16.


He didn't. The jig does come with some 1/16 precision shims for that purpose, but like Bill said, it's really not necessary to have them dead center. The 1/16" spacers would allow you to center in 7/8" stock.

Hope that makes sense as that's how I understand it. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Bill Huber]

Mike check the video again, he used 5/8 for the shelf, top and bottom.

[Mike Cameron]

Sorry, quickly checked the video from work. The shelves were in fact 5/8" and the rest of the pieces were 3/4".

Here are some pics to explain what I wrote above. This is on some 5/8" melamine. Method C results in the dowels being centered.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/mikeneron/Dowelmax/Dowelmax_holesMedium.jpg

A: No spacers or reference plate (ie. default config)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/mikeneron/Dowelmax/Dowelmax_0Medium.jpg

B:Just reference plate
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/mikeneron/Dowelmax/Dowelmax_1-8Medium.jpg

C: Reference plate and 1/16" washers
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/mikeneron/Dowelmax/Dowelmax_1-16Medium.jpg