# my home made dowel jig (picture heavy)



## sirjj (4 Jan 2011)

i looked on the internet to find a way to make a dowel jig but couldent find one so i created this out of scrap wood and documented the process. this process requires a sliding miter saw or a suitable replacment and a drill

step one:

found a scrap peice of wood and marked out two trenches (for lack of a better word) the thickness of the drill bit being used (depending on how many dowels holes need drilling you might add more).







step two: 

set the miter saw to cut into the wood at the same depth as the thickness of the drill bit (i had to use a scrap piece of wood to messure).







step three:

cut out the two "trenches" making sure they just allow the drill bit to fit in.






step four:

set a strip of wood on top level with the first piece, i just used screws thought glue might last longer.






step five:

now i need to make a guide first i cut the top off the jig to make it in line with the top of the thing i intend to cut, then i have added a scrap of wood to hold the piece with a bit of spare plywood to pad it out further. then i added another piece of wood as a height guide.







and thats done

heres it in use:











below i made seperate width guide for these pieces







heres the joint












and heres it with glue, this is taken straight after putting the glue on and i am not supporting the joint.





and heres the finnished piece. (too much glue  )






i hope this was usefull to anyone, thanks for watching.


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## sirjj (4 Jan 2011)

that bad then....


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## Hudson Carpentry (4 Jan 2011)

Well no not bad if it does what you intended it to with accuracy.

I did wander why you taken the time to trench the holes, why not just drill them?
How well does it remove the waste while drilling? 

It might be worth you remaking the the jig using aluminum, it will last and stay accurate for longer.

Never used a dowel jig myself, might have to make one myself. Its rear i use dowels.


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## sirjj (4 Jan 2011)

Hudson Carpentry":39xjqfbp said:


> Well no not bad if it does what you intended it to with accuracy.
> 
> I did wander why you taken the time to trench the holes, why not just drill them?
> How well does it remove the waste while drilling?
> ...



the problem was i dident have anything to drill at an acurate 90 degrees

not to bad though most of the waste falls out whene i pull the drill out. 

ille try and find somthing to replace it soon but im running on a very tight budget of nothing and this was somthing that i could just throw together. 16 cuts of two dowels and it isnt in bad shape yet so its done the job.

i forgot to mention i wasnt using dowel in this one i was using square rod/stick


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## Hudson Carpentry (4 Jan 2011)

Saying that the first pocket jig i used was made of ali, the drill bit was harder and ruined the jig after a few cuts


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## sirjj (4 Jan 2011)

Hudson Carpentry":jc66bt3v said:



> Saying that the first pocket jig i used was made of ali, the drill bit was harder and ruined the jig after a few cuts



ouch, ille find some stainless steel with holes in and clamp them together in layers and see how that goes.


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## Hudson Carpentry (5 Jan 2011)

I wasn't to bothered it didn't cost a deal, think i still have it somewhere. I have a kreg one now, fantastic jig!


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