picture frame fastening with dowels

[glencross]

have been having a few problems lining up dowels on the 45 degree corners: can anyone advise me as to how you get these two dowels to be at the correct angle? am using dowel centres but its the opposite dowel slope that i am having problems with.i.e. i am drilling the one hole at what i think is the correct angle but the opposite hole does not always appear to be exact enough so the frame comes together evenly with no effort.very frustrating!!!

[Pappy]

You are finding the reason most woodworkers have gone away from dowelling on most joints. Even on flat panel glue ups, the dowel holes must be drilled precisely. For frames, I use splines to reinforce the joint. They can be cut across the corners after the frame is together or added to the inside of the joint before assembly. The later, using the same wood as the frame, will be nearly invisible.

[LCHIEN]

at a bare minimum you need to use a drill press with the table set at 45 degrees or a 45 degree jig to hold the frame. I really don't like using it that way; at least yoiu are drilling square to the face of that corner. Obviously you have to also hold the frame square in the other direction. A degree or two error will be too much.

Really a spline (or biscuit if there is enough room) is a better solution.

[jabe]

As Pappy said use a spline or biscuit joint, thats strong & fast. But if you want the frame to look like it was doweled, drill a pilot hole for a screw at 45 degree and countersink the pilot hole with a 3/8" drill about 1/4" deep. Be careful when drilling the 3/8" countersink hole to avoid tear outs, drill slowly Glue & screw your frame together and glue in a 3/8" dowel or plug into the countersunk hole. Be sure to wipe off any glue that oozes out before it dries. After the glue has set, cut off & sand the excess dowel/plug. It'll look like it was doweled joint. I always used a different species of wood for the plug, it'll give it contrast and makes it more noticable. I also use a tapered plug cutter so there is little or no glue line showing around the plug. Another tip is to glue the plug in with 5 min. clear epoxy, it'll fill any tear out you may have from drilling the countersunk hole. It's a longer process, thats why I don't do it anymore unless a customer request that dowel look.

[glencross]

is there anwhere i can go to see how splines work, have never used them!!

[DJehlik]

Here's one technique:

http://sawdustmaking.com/About%20Joi...out_joints.htm

Scroll down to the last item.

Dave

[LCHIEN]

is there anwhere i can go to see how splines work, have never used them!!

you need to make a special but simple jig to hold both the pieces at right angles and vertical on your table saw to make this cut, otherwise it can't be done any better than your dowels.

here's an web article on general joinery (where the pic came from). There are whole books on the subject, you should have some basic knowledge about joints if you plan to do woodworking.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2woodjoints

Dowels are kind of finicky and I only use them for special ocasssions.