new member - doweling question?

[Andian]

Hi:
I have joined as a member after looking at this site over the past three years. Found comments about wood tools helpful. I am about to make some baby furniture for 2 new grandkids due later this year and plan to do a bit of doweling. The Dowelmax appeals, but seems very expensive as compared to the self centred jig from Carbatech for $80.00. Positive comments on how to justify the Dowelmax to my wife are most welcome. :2tsup: Regards to all.

[artme]

G'day Andian and welcome to your source of advice for all problems. :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Wait until the Brisbane Timber and working with Wood show and then you can compare lots of jigs. I like the Ozzie jig, pricey but the best on the market IMHO.

[munruben]

The best dowel jig is this one. Here (http://www.ozziejigs.com.au/) I have one of these and it is foolproof. The only thing is they are very expensive if you only want it for one job. Welcome to the forum.
(http://www.ozziejigs.com.au/)

[mjmjm]

What Artme and Munruben said. Ozzie Jig is a magical piece of equipment.
Michael

[Canetoad]

ask for a domino and you will be able to get any dowel jig as a comprimise

[Ron Dunn]

I'm sorry to disagree. I own the both the Ozzie and the Dowelmax, and several besides, and the Dowelmax is definitely better.

Some of the features which make Dowelmax better are:

* Better alignment
* Better spacing
* Replaceable bushings

The Ozzie is good - I'd put it in second place - but we're talking 7/10 compared to 9/10.

[munruben]

I'm sorry to disagree. I own the both the Ozzie and the Dowelmax, and several besides, and the Dowelmax is definitely better.

Some of the features which make Dowelmax better are:

* Better alignment
* Better spacing
* Replaceable bushings

The Ozzie is good - I'd put it in second place - but we're talking 7/10 compared to 9/10.Don't mind you disagreeing at all Ron. I cannot disagree with you because I have never tried or used the Dowelmax. I have the Ozzie jig and cannot understand you suggesting that it doesn't align 100% I have not experienced this problem, However, if the price of the Dowelmax is what Andian has stated in his first post then maybe price could be a persuasive factor in his case to choose the cheaper of the two jigs. As I said I have not used the Dowelmax so I will bow to your knowledge seeing as you have both.

[Ron Dunn]

andian, continuing the discussion, don't buy a self-centring jig. Face referencing jigs are definitely superior.

Let's say you want to make a panel, and you don't have a thicknesser to ensure that every board is precisely the same thickness. A centring jig will leave rough joins on both sides, while a face referencing jig will ensure you have one perfect face, and a decision about how much to clean up the other.

Now let's assume you're joining rails to legs. If you only have a self-centring jig, and assuming it can handle stock of sufficient thickness, your only option is to centre the join. With a face referencing jig you can align the rail to the inside of the leg, the outside, or any point in between.

Although I don't rate it as highly as the Dowelmax, the Ozzie will do everything that I've described above. In fact, the Ozzie has one feature which the Dowelmax does not, and that is the little plate which aligns the jig to the end of the stock. With Dowelmax this is done by touch. I've been thinking about drilling and tapping a hole in the end of my Dowelmax so I could add the same feature.

munruben, when I talk about alignment, my main area of concern is with the stability of clamping when using the "mirror image" feature to parallel drill two boards for edge jointing. I'm not confident that the depth of the alignment plate is sufficient to ensure the same degree of vertical alignment as the method used by Dowelmax, nor that moving the jig along between boards is the best way to ensure face alignment - the tendency for long boards to not clamp truly parallel to the jig, or move slightly lengthwise whilst clamping is why I feel that the Dowelmax is better in this regard.

andian, depending on the nature of your planned work, another couple of jigs you might want to take into account are the Joint Genie and the Veritas. I haven't used a Joint Genie (intend to buy one soon) so I can't offer any decent advice. It looks interesting.

Veritas have a few jigs which vary in quality and utility, but those based on their 32mm system are pretty good. If I was building cabinets based on the 32mm system, or planned to concentrate on bookshelves or wall cabinets with adjustable shelves, this is the jig I'd probably choose. I have the small version, not the full 32mm framing system, and it does a great job in a more limited set of timber sizes.

You certainly won't go wrong if you decide to buy the Ozzie jig, and you'll have satisfaction that you're supporting a local manufacturer.

[Ed Reiss]

My endorsment is for the Dowelmax...precision plus piece of gear. Have used mine for over 3 years now and wouldn't trade it for anything else :U:2tsup:

Welcome to the club Andian !!

[Andian]

Thanks for the insight guys. I liked the comment about telling my wife about the Domino.:U
In my intro, I forgot to mention that I am a Scot and an Aussie citizen. As Jim, the inventor of Dowelmax is Scottish, I am torn between whom to support, viz, Dowelmax-the Scot vs Ozjig-the Aussie. I have had a good look at previous chats on the merits of most of the jigs. Functionality is a big factor in a lot of posts, the cost is also a big issue. Maybe I am introducing a new topic in the selection of a doweling jig - the nationality or "ethnic factor," the bagpipe vs Kangaroo issue.
This year most of the timber I will use will be 31mm thick, so the self-centred jig seems ok for me to get, but I am concerned about issues that popped up on a few threads about the accuracy of the self-centred jig.

[timhonan]

I don't meant to stir things up here but the Dowelmax is a far better jig than the Aussie.

I purchased the Aussie first and while it worked ok I was not totally happy with the results and could see that it could do with a few refinements.

Out of frustration I then purchased the Dowelmax and I can honestly say it is the only tool I have ever bought that works perfectly every time.

I know that price is an issue and the Dowelmax is on the expensive side but if you can afford it, buy it first because it will be your one and only dowel jig purchase for life.

Tim

[Andian]

I took the plunge and got Dowelmax. It only took 5 days to arrive with no customs duty to pay. So far I have only worked with scrap and it is very accuarate. I did not order the 6mm size guides as I can get this later if needed. Final comment: well worth the outlay. Thanks for all the advice.

[Ron Dunn]

Welcome to the club, Andian ... look forward to some usage reports :)

If you're looking for dowels in big quantities in Australia, take a look at Timbecon (WA) or Elraco (SA, I think). For smaller quantities I find the Haron dowels available at most hardware stores to be just fine, although it pays to shop around on price.

Ron.