Dowelmax Doweling Jig

[Mark W Pugh]

Anyone have one, used one? Any other comments, that's useful?

Thanks

[Joe Spear]

I've had one for about five years. It's accurate and pretty easy to use. But there have been a lot of different dowel jigs introduced since I got it, and now I might do some comparing before I got one.

[Prashun Patel]

Very good, very accurate. THere's a lot of screwing and unscrewing of shims and it always took a little thought to set up to reference perfectly. But that also means it's pretty flexible in setting the offset.

I think the Jessem versions are as accurate and some versions are cheaper than the Dowelmax. When that came out, many considered it as a replacement for the DM.

[Herb Smith]

Also had mine for about 5 years. Very good tool, extremely accurate, easy to use and very well built. The Jessem jig also gets great reviews and is a little less expensive. Of course there is also Woodpeckers which, I'm sure is also very good but, for me at least, is not a good value for the price Woodpeckers asks.

[Jim Mackell]

Had one for four or five years. Beats using dowel transfer pins all to heck. Inexpensive tool that does the job nicely. What more could you ask for!

[William Young]

I have no experience with the Dowelmax, but before you buy I would suggest that you check out the old Craftsman jig like this: https://www.ebay.com/p/Vintage-Craftsman-Wood-Doweling-Jig-W-Revolving-Turret-Cabinet-Sears-94186/1901500963?iid=152959889672
The little bit I've used it, I found it to be easy to use and without a lot of loose parts like shims or guides. Also, see this review:
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/2218

[Warren Lake]

just used this one its a Record it worked pretty well.

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[richard poitras]

I have had one for years. They are a great jig. I would buy again. The DM or Jessem are the top dowel jigs on the market for new product's in my opion.

[Peter Kuhlman]

While I have not touched the Jessem I am sure it is a quality tool like my other Jessem stuff.
I have 2 of the DowelMax units and love them. Picked up the second real cheap - got lucky. Have them set up for different tasks to speed things up. The DM is extremely accurate for edge joining - far more so than my Domino or my biscuit jig. I love all the flexibility and have yet to find a task it can’t handle. From looking at the Jessem videos it appears the DM can handle some joinery that the Jessem would really struggle at.

[Jeff Ramsey]

I've had one for years and use it regularly. It's well made and accurate.

[Brian Behrens]

I have the Jessem. I recently used it on a project with over 200 dowels in it. Every single dowel was spot on. It is very easy to get precision results with the Jessem. I've never tried one of the other brands. The Jessem is very well made and there is no fuss in using it.

[Art Mann]

I am another satisfied Dowelmax user. I use it in most places where I would have used M&T. Its use is similar in complexity to using the Festool Domino.

[John Adank]

I’ve had mine for about 5 years and love it. Its extremely accurate and versatile. It may take a little longer sometimes to set up for particular operations but nothing to complain about. I have a Festool domino also and I still go back to using the Dowelmax from time to time because I trust it’s accuracy and it’s not susceptible to not holding the grip properly or plunging to fast with the domino. I think it’s superbly engineered and worth the money. I would highly recommend one.

[Ole Anderson]

Used one when I did my kitchen upper cabs. I made an aluminum spacer to line up holes offset more than the parts in the kit would allow. Doing it again, I would look at the Jessem rig.