Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I just received the Dowelmax today. I watch the included 45 minute video and that made the concept easy. Then I went into the shop and tried to create my first dowel joint. I marked both outer surfaces with a check mark and put an X on the face where the two pieces meet. What I had a hard time accepting is that I had to reference the one piece off of one side of the jig, then reference the mating piece off of the other end of the jig. I couldn't believe that both ends could be engineered and made so perfectly that both ends would have the same exact registration, but it does. This tool is made on a CNC machine to an accuracy to within 1/1000th of an inch. At first I used the same end on both pieces but that creates an off center fit, then when I finally accepted that both ends are EXACTLY made the same, I did the proper method and reversed the other piece to the other end, it came out perfect. There is something in the mechanics of creating dowel joints that forces the use of opposite ends. Something to do with making dowel holes on two different planes of the wood. One on the tip and the other along the side.
I popped for the extra money for the Dowelmax because I am into precision. I calibrate my Incra table saw fence with a dial caliper and the fence maintains the one thousandth of an inch accuracy along the entire length. I use a Bosch digital protractor to measure angles and that is accurate to a tenth of a degree on the digital readout. Why am I telling you all of this? Because the Dowelmax is one super accurate piece of equipment. At first I was hesitant to spend the money, considering the cheap alternatives. Now I think the Dowelmax is worth twice what they charge for it. It is perfectly accurate. The joined pieces come together 100% accurately. When you run your fingers over the seam, you think you are feeling one piece of wood along every plane and surface. There is not even one thousandth of an inch misalignment. The crazy thing is that it takes less than the three minutes the manufacturer states to make a joint. I spend at least 15 minutes to make mortise and tenon joints, and every step of the way, which is about ten steps, requires 100 percent accuracy or the pieces won't align perfectly. The Dowelmax does it in a flash.
Because the Dowelmax has multiple dowel guides and so close together, you can place quite a few of these in a small area and in whatever configuration or spacing you choose, you can create an incredibly powerful joint.
Something noteworthy is that wood expands and contracts across its width, and hardly changes at all along its length. This is a problem when making real wide tenons. So much so that a tenon of 5 or 6 inches should be segmented into several smaller tenons to prevent joint failure. That is a lot of work to make both the tenons and the mortises. The Dowelmax handles this problem beautifully. The dowels are only 3/8" apiece, and the drill guides are closely spaced. With the totally accurate spacer guide that drops into one of the already drilled dowel holes, then references off of the side of the Dowelmax, gives you the ability to create an unlimited number of dowels, in whatever configuration or size work piece you may need. Another great method built into the Dowelmax system that achieves the same thing is the included reference pin. You can drill several holes, remove the jig, move it over, and use the full size (3/8") pin by sliding it down through the jig and into the freshly drilled hole, and that creates prefect spacing once again for any additional holes you want to drill through the jig. This tool is really well thought out and engineered. It's a shame you can't get a hold of the video that comes with it, if you saw how this system works, you would beg, borrow, and steal to get one. I highly recommend the Dowelmax. I know I will be using this frequently, even though I have a Freud biscuit joiner, Delta tenoning jigs, Kregs complete pocket hole system, and a Powermatic hollow chisel mortiser. You can't beat this Dowelmax system for ease of use, speed, strength, accuracy, and totally precise joints. Combine this system with urethane glues and you have a joint that is so strong that under pressure the wood would probably fail before the joint. Buy it you won't be sorry.
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Product Description:
The Dowelmax Kit creates strong, accurate joints of virtually any configuration from 3/4"x3/4" to 4"x4" of any length, that are engineer's test proven to be equal in strength to mortise and tenon joints. The Dowelmax Kit is equipped with 5 hardened steel drill guides for use with 3/8 dowels. Optional 1/4 inch drill guides for using 1/4 inch dowels for 1/2" and 5/8" stock are available. Dowelmax joint configurations and sizes can be single, double and triple row, flush, offset, mitre, face and "T" joints. The Dowelmax is a reversible jig meaning that it locates the dowel positions on both workpieces from the same joint face. This design coupled with rigorously maintained manufacturing tolerances of +/-.001 inches for the 36 aluminum, brass and steel components making up the kit ensures that the Dowelmax is accurate and repeatable from workpiece to workpiece and through any adjustment. The Dowelmax Kit is a professional quality, precision engineered joining system that is intended to last a lifetime.
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