Question re. dowel centers......

[durango dude]

I'm working on a project, and am doing joins with dowels.

Question, though ------ I bought a small dowel kit with the drill bits, dowels, and dowel centers ----- and see the centers don't fit over the dowels... how the heck do you use the centers?

Suspect I'm going to spring for self-centering jig some time, soon.

[LCHIEN]

use dowel centers that are the same diameter as the dowel you are using.
Drill the dowel hole in the first piece. Better yet drill two holes for 2 dowels.
Insert the dowel center(s) into the hole(s).
Press the second piece to the first piece with the centers, positioning it exactly where you want it, use squares and guides to line up the edges exactly.
The points on the center of the dowel centers will make dents in the second piece which will show you exact centers where to drill the second piece for the mating dowels, that are perfectly spaced in relation to each other and to the first piece.

HTH.

P.S. you may have to tap the second piece with a small mallet to make the dents big enough to see and be used.

[durango dude]

it sure does help!

I was thinking the centers went over top the dowels (they don't fit!)

[LCHIEN]

A couple more points:
while these work OK, I do prefer to use dowel jigs that guide the drill. Otherwise, even using the dowel center marks to drill the bit can drift off. Using Brad point bits helps some. But the jigs that guide the drill are less prone to drift.

There are a few occasions when the dowel center can help and these are usually unconventional line-ups when nothing else will work.

[Pappy]

If you buy a doweling jig, avoid the turret style like this one. Not self centering and the drill guides (at least on the one I had) are soft metal and wear our quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Tool-8...sxp_grid_i_2_0

The self centering type work better and have better bit guides. I could even guess how long I have had my Dowel-It jig. They can be set to drill off-center holes but it is a PITA to do.

http://woodworker.com/1000-dowel-jig...earch=doweling jig&searchmode=2

[cabinetman]

I don't have any problems with the points lining up if the pieces to be joined are guided to position. This is easy to do with some alignment marks on the two pieces. A brad point drill bit helps, but I use a scratch awl to tap better starting points, as the dowel center points are pretty small.

.

[dbhost]

If you buy a doweling jig, avoid the turret style like this one. Not self centering and the drill guides (at least on the one I had) are soft metal and wear our quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Tool-8...sxp_grid_i_2_0

The self centering type work better and have better bit guides. I could even guess how long I have had my Dowel-It jig. They can be set to drill off-center holes but it is a PITA to do.

http://woodworker.com/1000-dowel-jig...earch=doweling jig&searchmode=2

I have that same General dowel jig. Don't waste your time or money...

[LCHIEN]

I have this one


it doesn't center the holes in the workpiece but that's not really necessary for anything that I can think of. It seems to work OK for me.

[LCHIEN]

Another common use for Dowel centers: Marking the center of the end of a dowel.

Drill a set of 1/4" holes through a piece of 1x4 material.
Centered on each hole countersink a different drill size matching common dowels, like 3/8, 1/2, 3/4, 1" - drill the countersunk holes approx 3/8" deep.

So if you want to mark the center of a set of 1/2" dowels, drop a 1/4" dowel center into the hole in the 1/2" countersink and make sure its in the 1/4" hole in the bottom, point up. Now you can take your 1/2" dowels and tap them into the hole. When it contacts the dowel center it will mark the exact center of the end of the dowel.

[gsmittle]

Another common use for Dowel centers: Marking the center of the end of a dowel.

Drill a set of 1/4" holes through a piece of 1x4 material.
Centered on each hole countersink a different drill size matching common dowels, like 3/8, 1/2, 3/4, 1" - drill the countersunk holes approx 3/8" deep.

So if you want to mark the center of a set of 1/2" dowels, drop a 1/4" dowel center into the hole in the 1/2" countersink and make sure its in the 1/4" hole in the bottom, point up. Now you can take your 1/2" dowels and tap them into the hole. When it contacts the dowel center it will mark the exact center of the end of the dowel.

Cool trick! Thanks!

g.