Boring Jig for dowel construction?

[Dezri Dean]

I know I'm getting older but I would swear that I saw an ad ....
It was a jig for boring construction holes. It consisted of an indexing rail and a dual bit boring machine that looked like a modified plate joiner.
Does anyone know about it or where I can find information on it?
Or have I finally lost it and just dreamed the whole thing up?
Dez:confused: :confused: :eek:

[Christian Aufreiter]

No dreams, the tool you described does exist. However, I would not call it a jig.:D
You might have seen it here (http://www.mafell.com/produkte/prod_bohren_fr.htm) or here (http://www.hoffmann-usa.com/htm/pds32/pds32.htm).

Hope this helps,

Christian

[Michael Adelong]

Can't help with the jig Dez, but I just had to tell you that the title of your post made me chuckle.

I thought you were going to describe a recent project you built. A jig for drilling holes that you didn't find all that exciting to design and build. :rolleyes:


Have a good day,
Michael

[Dezri Dean]

Christian,
Thanks, I feel much better. That was what I was looking for! I can't tell you how much time I spent going over old magazines trying to find it again. Thank You

Michael,
The intent of the title was just that, trying to get a little humor out of a frustrating experience, as well as garner a little interest.
I'm not as old or as dumb (almost) as I look most of the time but there are those days that begin to make even me wonder a little. :D
Thank you
Dez

[Gary Curtis]

An identical machine is marketed in Europe under the name "Mafell". It might be spelled Maffel. Can't remember.

The ones for sale in England are about $300 cheaper than the US dollar price. I'm not sure if that is because of the different brand name. I didn't get one from England because of the 220v, 50 cycle current spec on Euro equipment.

I saw a story in a magazine (English) showing some carpenters who assembled a hardwood landing and bannister for a stair in a half day using dowels as the only joint. It was impressive. But so is $800 for the tool itself.

Looks like I'll be hopping down the "biscuit trail" instead. :)

[Dezri Dean]

Gary,
I have and use a biscuit joiner. That said I have had problems with accuracy at times and I believe dowels, especially with case work-particle board construction, are stronger.
I prefer to work with solid wood but I'll take on cabinets if I like the job and need the work! :D
I found the Maffel web site and requested a catalog and pricing. I will spend $8-900 if it saves me enough time and aggravation. I figure it should pay for itself in about 5 kitchen cabinet jobs and I have 3 lined up now. I just wish I had say,, 1000 more sq. ft. of shop space! :(

[Steve Rowe]

Dezri - You probably saw an ad for the Hoffmann Portable Doweling system. It looks a lot like a plate joiner and does have an optional template for boring a series of holes on 32mm centers. Mafell also makes one and other than the color, they look identical. The link to the Hoffmann is:
http://www.hoffmann-usa.com/htm/pds32/pds32.htm
Steve

[Dezri Dean]

Steve
Thanks, I found the Hoffmann web site the other day.
Does anyone have exposure to either of these machines? I sent an email to both asking about local users where I could see it in action and am waiting for a reply.
Dez
:)

[Gary Curtis]

There was a thread about dowels vs. biscuits on the Felder Owner's Group forum 6 months ago. Most folks voiced a preference for biscuits.They were unfamiliar with dowelling and thought it was out of date. Go to groups.yahoo.com and search for FELDER. Do a search under DOWEL.

A gentleman from Australia answered very strongly in favor the the Maffel (or Hoffman) and dowels. He runs a big shop and has been unsuccessful teaching his crew to use biscuit technology. Dowels only. Today I visited a friend who runs a 5-person cabinet shop in Santa Monica. He has a dedicated dowel drilling machine (single horizontal boring machine). He loves it. Also has a Lamello for biscuits. But he won't touch pocket screws.

Perhaps these two feel as they do because they are pros wheres the other people on the forum are amateurs. I can only afford one system, so I'm going for the cheaper Lamello and will live with that choice.

Gary Curtis

[Christian Aufreiter]

Gary,
I have and use a biscuit joiner. That said I have had problems with accuracy at times and I believe dowels, especially with case work-particle board construction, are stronger.
I prefer to work with solid wood but I'll take on cabinets if I like the job and need the work! :D
I found the Maffel web site and requested a catalog and pricing. I will spend $8-900 if it saves me enough time and aggravation. I figure it should pay for itself in about 5 kitchen cabinet jobs and I have 3 lined up now. I just wish I had say,, 1000 more sq. ft. of shop space! :(

Honestly, given today's glue I don't think that the additional strength provided by dowels or biscuits is really needed in order to prevent a cabinet from falling apart. I mean, how much abuse, hard wear etc. will a kitchen cabinet get under normal conditions?!
However, I appreciate dowels and biscuits as alignment help. A buddy of mine owns the Mafell Duodowel tool, I have a Lamello biscuit joiner. IMO, both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Mafell is great at building frames, you can use common dowels, drill shelf pin holes etc. For cabinet construction, I do strongly recommend to get the dowel template. Biscuits don't require that much operator's accuracy, there are several mechanical fasteners (from Lamello and Knapp (http://www.knapp.verbinder.com/)) etc.

Hope this helps,

Christian

[Tony Falotico]

My Dad had a floor model, looked much like a jointer with a foot pedal, place the workpiece on the table, push the foot pedal and the table moved with the workpiece into the dual drill bits. He used it daily making face frames for cabinets. This was forty plus years ago, have not seen one since, don't know if it was a standard item back then or if he made it (or had it made). If I remember correctly, it didn't appear to be home made.