Dowel Jigs What is your opinions?

[John Karas]

I like to make Dinning table & kids chairs also some tables & i'm looking to get the most sutable Dowel jig is avalable in the industry especially for chairs & similar products wirh contour shapes.Any suggestion?


Many Thanks
John

[Chris Zenda]

My wife bought me a Dowelmax for Christmas and its absolutely fantastic.

[Walt Caza]

Hi John,
You will meet varying opinions on dowel joinery. They are not my ultimate
option, but a solid choice for many applications and another trick up my sleeve.
I will have to go along with Chris and say my Dowelmax is a great jig.

The crucial difference with it is it's extreme accuracy, repeatability and
the novel way it uses a reference face rather than self-centering clamp
found on all others I have seen.
You can call dowelmax on the west coast of Canada and speak to inventor
Jim Lyndsay or his son. They are happy to answer questions over there
and give solid service.
They have been advertising in the wood mags, and also have a website.
They will send you a DVD upon request.

Good luck with your furniture,
be sure to post us some pics,
Walt
:)

[John Karas]

Hello Chris


The Dowel Jig you got is there any photos or website to look it?.



Many Thanks
John

[Bill Bryant]

Another happy Dowelmax owner here.

[Brian Penning]

The Dowelmax is by far considered the best of the bunch.
Never heard a negative comment about it except for perhaps the price.
http://www.dowelmax.com/

[Rick Gooden]

It took me a year of looking to get over the price and pull the trigger. By far one of my best investments is the DowelMax.

[John Karas]

Thank you Brian & Walt i have checked the Dowelmax website yes seems to be a very nice jig i'm very impress from what i have seen so far.

Thank you for yours comments

Many Thanks
John

[Ron Dunn]

I have two (slightly) negative comments about the Dowelmax:

1. Imperial-only bushings. Not good, when the rest of the world uses metric. <=NOT CORRECT, see comment from Matt Lenzner, below

2. Minimum stock width. I can't remember the minimum width for Dowelmax, but I think it can't handle 12mm (1/2") stock or smaller.

I use the Veritas dowelling jig, part of their 32mm cabinet system. It can handle stock down to 10mm, using 6mm dowels. It has variable face-referencing. It is great for making face frames and for panel joining. It isn't so good for face joints such as shelves-to-sides, or for joining thin-to-thick, such as narrow table stretchers to offset table legs.

[Bill Wyko]

Dowel max and festool Domino. Domins doesn't do dowels but it does a small domino.

[John Karas]

Hello All The Dowelmax seems to be a nice Jig & i do not think the price got much to do for quality tools if you have a need of a good tool i think is good investment.

In regards to the imperial sizes of the Dowelmax may is available as well, I work with metric as well will be nice to know if the Dowelmax is available in metric.

Inregards to Veritas one i do not know much about but it may be a nice jig as well .

Many thanks
John

[John Karas]

I Do know the Domino is a great tool I love it my friend has a domino he is making chairs with the domino & frontline bandsaw jig for cutting the chair shaped legs & rails that he is extremely very happy with both .

I do have a frontline bandsaw jig to cut the curved shapes legs & rails on the bandsaw which i do love it . But i like to get a dowel jig to use dowels especially for kids chairs for hobby.

many thanks
John

[Matt Lentzner]

Dowelmax is absolutely available in metric. The metric version comes standard with 10mm bushings, but can be upgraded with 8mm and 6mm bushings also.

The imperial version is supplied with standard 3/8" bushings, but can be upgraded with 1/4" bushings for 1/2" stock.

Matt

[Ron Dunn]

Matt, thanks for the correction about metric bushings :)

Regarding 1/2" stock, how do you manage the offset from the face? I'm sure I read that there was a minimum stock thickness, and from memory it was something like 3/4". I've looked over the site again, and I can't find any such figure, so perhaps I read it in a review somewhere.

[Scott Brihn]

John,

I'm another satisfied Dowelmax user. The jig produces strong, accurate, and repeatable joints. In use I found the concepts behind the jig intuitive. I purchased the unit earlier this fall and have used it on one project (a twin size bed). Cutting spacer blocks of varying thicknesses is straightforward and enables you to center the dowel joint on parts of same or different thicknesses. For the bed I traced a supplied spacer and made 4 "custom" spacers in about 15 minutes. For boring the holes (after approximately 250) I prefer the power and speed of a VS corded drill to that of a cordless. Affordable/quality metric HSS replacement bits can be purchased in quantity from HermansCentral.

When I first got the Dowelmax it looked so nice I almost didn't want to use it. The accuracy of the "checkmark" system is very precise right out of the box. For frame & panel component using M&T I typically leave horns, in part so I don't blow out the mortise sidewall. With the Dowelmax, the end grain to long grain joints lined up so well I didn't get to use my trusted planes to trim or level the joint.

[Bill Huber]

Here is a 5 page thread on dowels and the DowelMax, in fact Jim Lindsay the inventor of the Dowelmax had some post.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=69902&highlight=dowelmax

[Matt Lentzner]

Matt, thanks for the correction about metric bushings :)

Regarding 1/2" stock, how do you manage the offset from the face? I'm sure I read that there was a minimum stock thickness, and from memory it was something like 3/4". I've looked over the site again, and I can't find any such figure, so perhaps I read it in a review somewhere.

Ron,

The 1/4" kit comes with a 1/8" spacer to center the 1/4" dowels on 1/2" stock.

http://www.dowelmax.com/images/Optional%20Drill%20Guides.jpg

I just looked at the website and I could not find anywhere that explicitly explained the minimum stock sizes for each dowel setup, but I read it or saw it somewhere.

I'm fairly new to DowelMax myself so I don't know the history of the product such as when a metric version was added or when 1/4" bushings were offered.

HTH,

Matt

[Charles Green]

Never miss an opportunity to talk DowelMax. It is my favorite tool that I own.

If you are curious about it watch the videos on the website. They are the same as the DVD sent to you. Everything you see is real and it actually works the way they show. It is no more complex or difficult than that. If you watch an Incra video it makes things look easier than they (even though I like my Incra stuff) are but the Dowelmax is actually as simple as shown.

Once you use it one time and watch 40+ dowels all assemble perfectly without any fitting, fussing, or cussing you will love it.

As to strength, I really thing that has been done to death and proven it is all the strength you need.

[John Karas]

Thank you Matt

you have been a great help.

Seems to me that the Dowelmax is one of the best in the market.

Many thanks

regard
John

[richard poitras]

John I also have a Dowelmax and am very happy with it and would buy again, you had mentioned about you friend has a Domino and uses it on chairs and you where looking to do the same. I saw this jig on the web that looked very interesting and is similar to the Dowelmax but does loose tendons, I don’t have one but the price does look appealing compared to the Domino… it’s called a Mortise Pal just Google it to get to their site they do have a video on how it works good luck..

[Ron Dunn]

Since I was wrong in my post about limitations of Dowelmax, I figured I'd make amends and buy one. Order placed tonight, let's see how long it takes to get to Australia :)

Damn, it is expensive. I ordered the metric unit and the 6mm accessory, and by the time shipping was added that was over AUD500. To put it in perspective, a 24" Leigh Superjig is around AUD450, the Veritas dowelling jig I already own was around AUD90. It had better be good!

I'll post a comparative review of the Veritas and Dowelmax jigs when I've had a chance to use it in earnest.

[Randy Redding]

I remember laughing out loud the first time I used Dowelmax. :D I was so pleased with the near-perfection of the very first joint when I was done. It was quick and easy to use. On top of that, the jig itself is very well machined and a pleasure to look at (if you're into things like that).

Good luck with your choice!

[Billy Reynolds]

I received a dowelmax for Christmas. Also got the accessory for 1/4" dowels.
I was really impressed by the fine machine work on this tool. I just completed a table for a new hdtv receiver and I'm impressed by the accuracy of the tool. It has made doweling accurate and fast, easy to use.
As they say down south..........."Best Thing Since Sliced Bread".

[Ron Dunn]

Canada Post must be better than its Australian equivalent.

Ordered on Saturday, shipped on Tuesday (Australian times), arrived 9am Thursday. Amazing.

Sadly it will be 44C today, and that is too damned hot for my workshop. 46C tomorrow before a cool change, so I'll just have to wait for another couple of days to try it out.

[richard poitras]

Ron, how much damage can a little saw dust do in the house?:eek::D:D

[Bill Jepson]

Canada Post must be better than its Australian equivalent.

Ordered on Saturday, shipped on Tuesday (Australian times), arrived 9am Thursday. Amazing.

Sadly it will be 44C today, and that is too damned hot for my workshop. 46C tomorrow before a cool change, so I'll just have to wait for another couple of days to try it out.

That is smokin' for sure, (115°F) for the metrically impaired!
My shop in Central California suffers similar temps. 6 months out of sync of course!
Bill Jepson

[Ron Dunn]

It works :) <- that is a BIG smile on my face

I took it out of the box, inserted the 6mm drill guides, and aligned a panel of four one-metre boards more quickly and more closely than I've been able to achieve before.

Using only the indexing pin, which spaces the dowels somewhere between 65 and 70mm, I had perfect alignment of matching dowels along the entire length of each board.

The alignment was so good that I'll be going straight to the smoothing plane once the glue dries. No more pounding boards to try and get them closely aligned during glue-up, no more hours of planing to level panels where I didn't get the alignment quite right, and no more allowance for big cut-off margins around my panels to make up for my poor planing skills.

First impressions compared to my Veritas jig:

* Heavier (prefer lighter Veritas)
* More accurate
* More flexible

I'm going to put them through a head-to-head comparison, hopefully tomorrow, each making one panel and one frame. More praise likely to follow ;)

To the workshop!! There's timber to be cut.

[Will Blick]

> For frame & panel component using M&T I typically leave horns,

Horns? explain please....