Dowel Jig Centering On The Width

[Wiley's Woodworks]

I need to drill 2 dowel holes in each end in a set of back slats for a porch bench. I'm looking for a dowel jig that I can line up on a center mark on the end of the slat and drill 2 holes equidistant from the center mark. Do you have a jig that does this? What brand is it?

I thought I found one on Amazon and submitted a ? to confirm. I got answers all over the map, none of which confirmed what I wanted. Every jig centers on the thickness of a board; I need to center on the width of the board, then drill a hole on both sides of the center mark, and repeat this 26 times.

 

[creasman]

I use one like this and it works very well. Mine is a much older model, but the design is the same.

 

[bobby g]

I need to drill 2 dowel holes in each end in a set of back slats for a porch bench. I'm looking for a dowel jig that I can line up on a center mark on the end of the slat and drill 2 holes equidistant from the center mark. Do you have a jig that does this? What brand is it?

I thought I found one on Amazon and submitted a ? to confirm. I got answers all over the map, none of which confirmed what I wanted. Every jig centers on the thickness of a board; I need to center on the width of the board, then drill a hole on both sides of the center mark, and repeat this 26 times.

There is one in the shop that I'm helping to clear out. I could stop by there tomorrow and get the details.
Bob

 

[Canuck]

I use the Dowelmax dowel jig for all of my joinery.

Normally you reference off of either the right or left edge of the board. In a case like yours, I would scribe a center line on the workpiece and using the jig; reference off of the right and left side of the scribed center line. This will place each hole equidistant from the center line.

Wayne

(My apologies if I have misinterpreted your intent in this case.)

 

[bob vaughan]

Consider making your own using diamond groove drill bushings. I often do this.
example

 

[cyclopentadiene]

Almost any of the aluminum self centering jigs work great. They are relativey accurate to a few thousandths that can be sanded out. My first one was a $5 WWSupply annual yard sale one that had been returned. It is off center by about 1/16” which is remedied with a piece of duct tape. My other one was new from Woodcraft and is near perfect. The yard sale one should be trashed but I struggle with throwing away tools as it still works fine for most of my applications and the duct tape tells me which one is less accurate.
You also may need a set of dowel centers to mark the location of the other side. These are relatively inexpensive, just easy to lose in floor sawdust or rolling off the bench and under heavy stationary tools.

 

[junquecol]

Because you are drilling into end grain, make a jig, use a plunge router, up cut spiral bit and a guide bushing. Assuming all the slats are the same width, make the jig the same width. Be sure to assemble with screws, as you will need to reverse the fence portion. This way you only need to line up the edge of jig with edge of slat. If you are slightly off center, it won't matter, as you will reverse the jig to drill dowel holes in the rails. Be sure to mark one side of jig used as a reference edge.














make

 

[Trey1984]

Philip Morley makes and uses a jig like Bruce is talking about

 

[Charles Lent]

I have a Dowel-It jig that self centers on the thickness of the board. It has several holes for different sizes of drill / dowel holes. It always centers perfectly, but getting multi-dowel spacing accuracy depends on pencil marks and repeatability. The jig has aligning marks, but the accuracy of your pencil markings for multi- dowel spacings can produce errors. Still, the jig works quite well for what it does.

Charley

 

[cyclopentadiene]

I agree with Charley. Generally, I only use dowels for a single point connection. These are non stress joinery. If I want a stronger joint, it is a mortice and tenon or since making the Festool leap a domino or two.

 

[Barry W]

I also have a Dowelmax jig and am very pleased with it. It has a number of spacers and adjustments to accommodate different widths. The manufacturer is based in Canada and provides excellent support.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

To many who responded--I have a Dowl-It jig, use it often, and it does not do what I want to do. The challenge here is to line up and clamp the jig on a centerline marked crossways on the end of a board and drill two dowel holes equidistant (~ 1/2") from the centerline.

Because the slats are only 2" wide I need to center the jig to have enough clamping surface for the jig to hold itself steady. If a dowel jig has a single center screw to clamp the jig to the board, it won't do what I want. The screw blocks your view of the center mark. Thanks.

 

[junquecol]

The jig I'm referencing isn't a doweling jig. It consists of a top plate with two holes drilled in it to accept the guide bushing of plunge router, and a side leg (same width) as slats that clamps to slats. Several years back, I built a couple of curved (to fit wall) benches for local "Y." Tried several ways to drill dowel holes, with this method being the winner. My jig was based upon Rockler's dowel jig.

 

[Rick Mainhart]

Hi Wiley,
Make your own custom jig as follows:

Cut a piece of hardwood to the width and height of the end of your slats. Make this hardwood piece at least 1" thick, more is better to provide drill stability.

Drill the holes exactly where you want the dowels.

Take two pieces of thin plywood and attach to the block you just cut and drilled. Make the length of these pieces sufficient to give your clamps room to do their job.

Clamp the completed jig to the end of your slat and insert the drill bit to the surface of the slat before turning the drill on. Drill each pair of holes, then remove the jig from the slat.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Hints:
Use a drill press to more accurately drill the jig holes, this ensures the dowels go in straight.
If you are wearing out the jig holes, you are applying side forces to the jig ... adjust the slat and jig to make it easier to align the drill to the jig.
Don't brad nail the plywood pieces to the block at the drill hole locations (yea, don't ask me how I know this!).

Hope this helps,

Rick