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  My
Sliding Doweling Jig
Dowels can be a great
(albeit somewhat slow) way to join wood. Alignment can be a
problem, which requires a jig to accurately place holes. I have
several jigs, but finally decided to build one of my own. The
design is based on an article I saw in Fine Woodworking
Magazine. The two pics that got my creative juices flowing are
to the right.
My doweling jig is simply a
block of maple scrap with steel bushings super-glued and pressed into
it. I took a great deal of care in aligning the holes with a fence
and stop blocks with my drill press so everything was as precise as possible.
It is used with auxiliary
fences that I make with any piece of wood. All that is necessary is
routing a t-slot into the fence [I use the Rockler t-bolts and the
bit they sell for routing slots into wood (I use this for lots of
different projects and can't recommend them highly enough)].
[I know I've said it before
but I'm gonna say it again: I will try to update this page with
some additional pics and information since making my first doweling
jig. I've made more, using various methods. They work
incredibly well and in head to head testing with very, very expensive
doweling jigs, my design works better.]
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Sliding Doweling
Jig
Demonstration
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(1) Place two registration
marks on the bottom piece where you want the inside of the side piece.
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(2) Clamp the fence to the
bottom piece, aligning it to the registration marks.
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(2b) This is a profile shot
of the fence, showing the t-slot.
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(3a) This is the block with
steel inserts, front view.
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(3b) This is the rear view
of the block.
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(3c) I attach the
block to the fence, align it to the end of the workpiece, tighten the
knobs and drill (I did two of the five holes). Then I loosen the
knobs, align the block to the other side of the workpiece, and drill
two more holes.
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(4a) I remove that fence
and guide block and attach the guide block to another fence that I
can use for drilling the side.
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(4b) I clamp the assembly
to the side and drill two holes, move the assembly to the other side
and drill the last two holes
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(5a) Success, the two
pieces fit together perfect, the edges are perfectly aligned.
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(5b) Flipping the
workpieces over, I check the registration marks and find that the
side meets the bottom exactly where I marked.
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--Phil
phil@cgallery.com
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