Doweling Jig

[Cooler]

The Joint Genie is fast and accurate.  I got mine through Amazon.com.  It ships from England but takes about one week to arrive.

https://www.google.com/search?client=fir...oint+genie

Watch the videos. They sold me on the system.

There is a learning curve, but not steep.  It is just a matter of keeping the sequence in order.

[fall]

A Dowel Max just went up for sale on Southeast Michigan Woodworkers Forums for $90.00

[Phil Thien]

The Joint Genie is fast and accurate.  I got mine through Amazon.com.  It ships from England but takes about one week to arrive.

https://www.google.com/search?client=fir...oint+genie

Watch the videos. They sold me on the system.

There is a learning curve, but not steep.  It is just a matter of keeping the sequence in order.

I haven't tried one, but I've watched them for a while.

Do you know where it is made?

[Cooler]

I haven't tried one, but I've watched them for a while.

Do you know where it is made?

They are made in England and apparently ships the same day when ordered through Amazon.com.  I got mine in about one week.

The drill guide is made from high carbon steel that has been heat treated to a very high hardness.  It is then zinc plated. 

There have been some minor complaints about the zinc plating not getting in the holes. 

Zinc plating does not "throw" well.  That is, if  you were to plate an open tin can, the entire outside would get plated, but the only about one inch of the interior will get plated.  Nickel "throws" well, but would not fully plate the interior and would wear off very quickly.  I use WD-40 if I am leaving it unused for a length of time.  There is really no fix for this issue.  Other drill guides are finished with black oxide, which looks fine, but has little corrosion resistance, and what corrosion resistance it has is a product of the oil that has been applied.

That all said, my only complaint was that I would get confused on the placement of the jig when I first started out.  Pencil marks help.

I build face frame cabinets and I now through dowel through the sides of the cabinet, which then gets covered with end panels.  This is very fast (half the number of drilled holes and only one setup per corner) and much stronger than dado + glue.  For Euro frames you will have to use blind dowels, but again very strong joints and perfect if you are using melamine or pre-finished panels which do not take glue well.

[Phil Thien]

Thanks cooler. I'll bet the people bringing up oxidation in the holes are using them in humid environments. My hardened steel bushings never get any oxidation but they're used in a controlled environment. Even if some rust were to form in the holes, it would be no match for a drill bit.

And yeah, pencil marks help.

I wonder why they don't say it is made in England on their website. The DowelMax used to push the made in Canada aspect but they sort of quietly (IMHO) removed that when they shifted production to China.

[Cooler]

Thanks cooler. I'll bet the people bringing up oxidation in the holes are using them in humid environments. My hardened steel bushings never get any oxidation but they're used in a controlled environment.  Even if some rust were to form in the holes, it would be no match for a drill bit.

And yeah, pencil marks help.

I wonder why they don't say it is made in England on their website. The DowelMax used to push the made in Canada aspect but they sort of quietly (IMHO) removed that when they shifted production to China.

From their website:

All JOINT GENIE Fittings are Interchangeable between models. All models can be used together for larger projects and the JOINT GENIE comes in a neatly packaged box for safe storage. JOINT GENIE is made in England by Woodworkers for Woodworkers.


Joint Genie
[url=http://www.joint-genie.com/][/url]

I would note that you should specify "Imperial" (fraction of inches) or "Metric".  I specified "Imperial" and 3/8" diameter dowels.    You can specify other sizes.

CMT makes a very neat doweling jig for cabinets but when I tried to buy one I was told it was not available in the USA.  You can see it on page 267 & 268

http://www.kazan-stanki.ru/im/cmt/CMT200...leniya.pdf

The video sold me on the idea, but I could not find a vendor.

https://youtu.be/8MMBhrF24Do

[Handplanesandmore]

The video sold me on the idea, but I could not find a vendor.

https://youtu.be/8MMBhrF24Do

If doing it a lot, get a Festool domino joiner. 10 times faster and 10 times less error prone. (Dont know if it's 10 times pricier.
)

Simon

[Phil Thien]

If doing it a lot, get a Festool domino joiner. 10 times faster and 10 times less error prone. (Dont know if it's 10 times pricier.
)

Simon

Those cabinet doweling jigs are insanely accurate and you can move very quickly with them.

BUT, they do take some getting used to, new users will make some mistakes for sure.

Edit to add: Oh and yeah those cabinet doweling jigs are insanely expensive (typically).

I think the Domino would have more appeal for someone doing stuff besides making just cabinets. That Domino joiner has lots of applications.

[Big Dave]

I've got no experience with all the others mentioned, but I've been using this one for almost 30 years without any issues...





Reasonably priced and quite accurate. I don't use dowels as much as I used to, but I have no concerns reaching for this old standby...

Dave

[Cooler]

I've got no experience with all the others mentioned, but I've been using this one for almost 30 years without any issues...





Reasonably priced and quite accurate. I don't use dowels as much as I used to, but I have no concerns reaching for this old standby...

Dave

The Harbor Freight unit is a knock off of this.  I have this one too and two H-F units.  The H-F unit uses removable bushings.  That has allowed me to pair 3/8" bushings in one unit.  So I can drill both holes with one clamping.  (It was cheaper to buy two H-F jigs than it was to  buy additional bushings.  Go figure.)