simple question about dowelmax

[Finnian Dawson]

Hi All,

I wish to use a dowel joint to join 4 supports to a rectangular shelf. The supports will be set in from the sides as shown
253642

Just wondering of a dowelmax would be useful here? Otherwise I will be accessing a drill press and a homemade jig.


Thanks
Finnian

[Roy Nielsen]

Finnian,

I have a Jessem dowel jig, similar in concept to the DowelMax. From what I can tell of your drawing, the Jessem would definitely work very well and I assume that the DowelMax would as well.

[Glenn Vaughn]

Piece of cake for the DowelMax.

[Bill Huber]

I have owned the DowelMax and now have the Jessem and both would do the job with no problem. I think the Jessem would do it with less hassle but again both would do it well.

[Andy Pratt]

Many dowel jigs will work well to drill the holes for the supports, the harder part (or the part you need a better jig for if you're not marking and using a drill press) is drilling their corresponding holes in the "field" of the shelf. Your diagram doesn't say how far from the edges of the shelf the dowel holes are, so here's some general guidance:

The dowelmax has spacers (1/16", 3/8", 3/4" and 1-5/8") to allow it to be easily used at common distances away from the edge of the piece you are drilling. These can be used in edge or end drilling to accommodate different board thicknesses, or in a different configuration of the tool you would use them to set your distance away from the reference edge into the field of the face of the board. You should add roughly 3/8" to these spacers if you are looking to find out where your hole centers would land (regardless of dowel size). By my math, if the center of your farthest holes in the shelf portion are within 3-3/16" of the shelf edge and your design can accommodate moving them a little based on where the spacers combos land you then I'm sure the dowelmax would work perfectly right out of the box.

If you want a little more flexibility for a little more work, it is not much trouble to just clamp a reference straight edge over the board and use that to align the dowelmax wherever you want. The tool sides are made to unscrew easily by hand and it wouldn't take more than 20 seconds to set it up for use with a straight edge instead of the normal edge guide and clamping system that comes with it.

Hope that helps. I know that if I had to do what you are doing, I would use my dowelmax within 3" of an edge and my drill press anywhere else.

[Finnian Dawson]

Many dowel jigs will work well to drill the holes for the supports, the harder part (or the part you need a better jig for if you're not marking and using a drill press) is drilling their corresponding holes in the "field" of the shelf. Your diagram doesn't say how far from the edges of the shelf the dowel holes are, so here's some general guidance:

The dowelmax has spacers (1/16", 3/8", 3/4" and 1-5/8") to allow it to be easily used at common distances away from the edge of the piece you are drilling. These can be used in edge or end drilling to accommodate different board thicknesses, or in a different configuration of the tool you would use them to set your distance away from the reference edge into the field of the face of the board. You should add roughly 3/8" to these spacers if you are looking to find out where your hole centers would land (regardless of dowel size). By my math, if the center of your farthest holes in the shelf portion are within 3-3/16" of the shelf edge and your design can accommodate moving them a little based on where the spacers combos land you then I'm sure the dowelmax would work perfectly right out of the box.

If you want a little more flexibility for a little more work, it is not much trouble to just clamp a reference straight edge over the board and use that to align the dowelmax wherever you want. The tool sides are made to unscrew easily by hand and it wouldn't take more than 20 seconds to set it up for use with a straight edge instead of the normal edge guide and clamping system that comes with it.

Hope that helps. I know that if I had to do what you are doing, I would use my dowelmax within 3" of an edge and my drill press anywhere else.

Thanks to all for replies, looks like dowelmax will be a worthwhile purchase! It is also much easier to convince the wife that it only cost a couple of bucks in comparison to a drill press!

Would I really need a drill press if I have a Dowelmax?

[Andy Pratt]

As much as I love my dowelmax, I would rather give it up than my drill press. The dowelmax does a couple important things really perfectly, the drill press does a handful of things perfectly and a hundred things pretty well if you take your time with it and read a book on tricks with it. That being said, if you need to drill dowels accurately and without frustration: get the dowelmax and don't look back. It will properly take care of a small category of things you might have wanted the drill press for, and let you delay your drill press purchase until a time when it is better justified.

[Glenn Vaughn]

We have done a number of projects using the dowelmax and have not needed the drill press yet. I have the Kreg pocket screw system, the Jessem loose tenon and the dowelmax - so far the dowelmax is the "go-to" tool for joining wood. We have been using it for about 2 years now and have not had a joint failure. Some of the dowel jigs available are centering jigs - if the tow pieces are not the same thickness he edge refistration is not perfect. The dowelmax uses edge registration and, if used properly, virtually eliminates joints with offset edges. Careful mesurement and clamping allows placing dowels anywhere on a piece of wood.

[Bill Huber]

Thanks to all for replies, looks like dowelmax will be a worthwhile purchase! It is also much easier to convince the wife that it only cost a couple of bucks in comparison to a drill press!

Would I really need a drill press if I have a Dowelmax?

You do not need a drill press with the DowelMax, it uses drill bushings.

I would also say to look at the Jessem, it is a little cheaper and it does not use spacers to adjust for different wood sizes.

Here is a write up on the Jessem when I got it and before I sold the DowelMax.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?140404-Jessem-s-new-dowel-jig-WOW!!!!&highlight=jessem+dowel