Anyone use dowel centers?

[LCHIEN]

They're inexpensive and a great way to line up dowels for assemblies where dowel jigs don't necessarily work.
I have sets of four sizes 1/4". 5/16". 3/8" and 1/2"
Pretty much I have only used the 1/4" and only ever needed four, so I went overboard
A set of four 1/4" ones is a really cheap woodworking accessory.

[twistsol]

I have a set and used them occasionally (mostly for dowels in cabinet face frames) before I bought my Domino. My set is 8 pieces, a pair of each in 4 different sizes. They work surprisingly well for something as simple as they are.

[cwsmith]

I have a nine piece set, three each of 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inches. Made of bright steel. (they're magnetic and look more like aluminum). I keep them in a jar, here on the shelf next to some 5/16 dowels I had left over from building the upstairs library. I'm thinking there was more of them, as having only three each seems a bit odd, but it's been about fifteen years since I last used them. If there were more than that, I'll sure I will magically discover them one day along with all the other object that I've misplaced over the years.

I do have a biscuit joiner which I purchase soon after I started that project, using it to assemble the window seats and the storage area in the cookbook room

CWS

[LCHIEN]

not seen 3/16 dowels.... probably 1/4"?

[cwsmith]

I stand corrected!

Must have been a bad day... I measured the inside of the dowel center, not the outside diameter. Obvviously not thinking. What through me off was that the four dowels that I had in the same container measured 5/16 diameter.... probably because they shrank in size over the last dozen years or so.

Thanks!

[dbhost]

I have a set, I use them on those wierd projects like my T clocks there a doweling jig just won't work...

[leehljp]

I have used them too, in the past. Since purchasing a biscuit joiner back in the early '90s, I haven't used dowels much since. OH, Just remembered, I did use some about 7 or 8 years ago when I made a set of bunk beds for my daughter's home. I used the dowel centers to locate the holes for guides for mounting the bunk bed posts onto one another.

[dbhost]

I sort of agree on the biscuit joiner, but when you are going end grain to cross grain those dowel joints are going to be a lot stronger, still not perfect but a lot better than a biscuit.... And trust me, I LOVE my biscuit joiner even though there are those that hate them... Now if only someone would make an affordable domino like floating tenon cutter priced more like the Ryobi Buscuit joiner and a LOT less like the Festool item....