Woodpeckers Doweling Jig. Did we ever decide?

[Allan Speers]

http://www.woodpeck.com/mtcg2015.html?_bta_tid=3.AIdT.CBcDwg.FpCs.AYZIVg.. AsJBVA.b..l.BtDZ.n...hMtdVg&_bta_c=031i3yett58x2puqoxro7enqyn7av

There was a thread not long ago about this jig, and the centering dingus. However, a few early posters got really hung up on the price, which wasn't even the true price, and others did the standard diatribe against the "one time tool" concept. (Which I can't stand, either.) The thread basically derailed before much serious discussion of the tools themselves got started.


OK, but the thing is, I REALLY want to buy a doweling jig, this one looks like it might be great, and there are only a few more days to order it. (Jan 11th deadline.)

My gut says to skip it, as there have obviously been no reviews, and other systems are already on second & third revisions. The DowelMax would be my other choice, but that system is actually more expensive, and has a few minor drawbacks as well. (All system do.)
================================

The Woodpeckers doweling jig, alone, is $150, including both 3/8" and 1/4" guides. That's not bad for a precision tool. I don't need the centering dingus, but the combined "inch" set is still only $270, for the record.

As already discussed, it does not by itself let you do offset rows, or dual-rows, but one could surely use a spacer for an offset row. Dual rows might no be possible, since the centering part isn't very wide, and this is my main concern.

- but heck, am i ever going to need dual rows?


Any thoughts?

Is anyone jumping on this tool?

[Ben Rivel]

Personally there is not a chance in heck I would even consider the Woodpeckers Doweling Jig over the JessEm 08300 or the Dowelmax Classic. Both are just way better solutions, tried and true and even better doesnt support this one time marketing BS.

[John Gornall]

It drills the edges and ends of board - what if you want to drill the face? Other dowel jigs are more versatile.

[Allan Speers]

It drills the edges and ends of board - what if you want to drill the face? Other dowel jigs are more versatile.


That's a good point.

Can the DowelMax drill faces?

[Joe Spear]

That's a good point.

Can the DowelMax drill faces?
Yes, it can.

[Rich Riddle]

Lots of difficulties. Off-center holes just produce one. But to each his own. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, buy it. They have some very useful tools; this just seems like there are better less expensive alternatives.

[glenn bradley]

I love Woodpeckers stuff but, I have established other ways of doing things. I rarely use dowels and prefer tenons for all those reasons so often discussed at length. There are those that prefer dowels and have a good methodology based around them. Before the Mortise Pal's demise, I thought $200 to do precision floating tenons made sense, $250 to do dowels did not but, that's my preference. The MP does some limited doweling functions and I still use dowels seldom enough to just do them free hand and use dowel markers.

[Art Mann]

I do not like self centering dowel jigs like the one in the link. It doesn't matter how much it costs. I hardly ever want to locate the dowels in the center of 2 pieces of material. Instead, I want to reference the front face of each of the two pieces to be joined (like door frames or raised panel doors. Centering jigs almost always result in a worse fit and more sanding. I have used both kinds extensively and currently use the Dowelmax. Unlike the tool you are evaluating, The Dowelmax provides a way to index the holes precisely along a long piece so you can glue up a wide table top using dowel guides and have it quite flat and smooth with little very little sanding.

[Allan Speers]

I do not like self centering dowel jigs like the one in the link. It doesn't matter how much it costs. I hardly ever want to locate the dowels in the center of 2 pieces of material. Instead, I want to reference the front face of each of the two pieces to be joined (like door frames or raised panel doors. Centering jigs almost always result in a worse fit and more sanding. I have used both kinds extensively and currently use the Dowelmax. Unlike the tool you are evaluating, The Dowelmax provides a way to index the holes precisely along a long piece so you can glue up a wide table top using dowel guides and have it quite flat and smooth with little very little sanding.

That's very helpful, Art.

Are there any shortcomings with the DowelMax that bug you?

[Ben Rivel]

I love Woodpeckers stuff but, I have established other ways of doing things. I rarely use dowels and prefer tenons for all those reasons so often discussed at length. There are those that prefer dowels and have a good methodology based around them. Before the Mortise Pal's demise, I thought $200 to do precision floating tenons made sense, $250 to do dowels did not but, that's my preference. The MP does some limited doweling functions and I still use dowels seldom enough to just do them free hand and use dowel markers.
I wish I would have been around to get a Mortise Pal while they were still around. I just came into the game too late. I cant believe someone hasnt picked up the design from that guy and started making them again. Really not a difficult product to make.

[ken masoumi]

I do not like self centering dowel jigs like the one in the link. It doesn't matter how much it costs. I hardly ever want to locate the dowels in the center of 2 pieces of material. Instead, I want to reference the front face of each of the two pieces to be joined (like door frames or raised panel doors. Centering jigs almost always result in a worse fit and more sanding. I have used both kinds extensively and currently use the Dowelmax. Unlike the tool you are evaluating, The Dowelmax provides a way to index the holes precisely along a long piece so you can glue up a wide table top using dowel guides and have it quite flat and smooth with little very little sanding.
+1,The precise indexing that the Dowelmax jig provides was the main reason I chose it over other dowelling jigs available at the time of my purchase, at first I wasn't sure how to position the jig so the drilled holes would match but that was my own fault ,it really was as simple as "check mark to check mark" on two edges/faces, couldn't be simpler than that, after a couple of tries it became second nature for me .

I have had my DM for a few years now and have found no shortcomings with it yet,I just ordered the 1/4" drill guides so I could do thinner/1/2" stock for drawers, there's also a new accessory for it that I didn't know about(may not be new) which is a miter bracket to do 45° miters.

[lowell holmes]

Personally there is not a chance in heck I would even consider the Woodpeckers Doweling Jig over the JessEm 08300 or the Dowelmax Classic. Both are just way better solutions, tried and true and even better doesn't support this one time marketing BS.

Ben, I wish you wouldn't hold back, just say how you feel.:)

[Ben Rivel]

Ben, I wish you wouldn't hold back, just say how you feel.:)
;) Honesty is the best policy. Just keepin' it real.

[Art Mann]

That's very helpful, Art.

Are there any shortcomings with the DowelMax that bug you?

I will tell you my one complaint about the jig. When you clamp the jig onto the work piece, you use two beautifully machined knurled brass knobs. They must be snugged up tight to make sure the jig doesn't move. My problem is that after I have drilled a lot of holes, my thumb and index finger start to get sore. I would have preferred a shape more like a wingnut.