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Video demo: Dowelling basics
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Learn how to create perfect dowel holes without investing in equipment
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By Steve Maxwell (video and text); Photography by Robert Maxwell
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A block of wood with holes and a
finishing nail make a solid dowelling jig
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If you're building a project, such as Art Mulder's calendar frame from the October 2008 issue, dowels are an excellent way to connect the two main project parts. A few tricks and a couple of dowels do a perfect job of joining the top and side members.
Instead of cutting long pieces of ready-made dowelled rod to length, use factory-cut 3⁄8"-diameter x 11⁄2"-long fluted dowels. Each dowel has a pattern of ridges compressed onto its surface, which offers two important benefits. The compression causes the dowel to swell in the presence of water-based glues, creating a tighter, stronger joint. The fluted surface also retains glue along the entire length of the dowel. Joints made with smooth-surface dowels are often weaker than the fluted kind because so much glue gets scraped off the sleek surface of the dowels during assembly.
Success with dowel joints also depends on precise alignment between matching holes. A dowel jig makes it quick and easy to drill accurately, but a good jig also costs a lot of money. If you'd like to try dowelling before investing in equipment, take a block of hardwood about 7⁄8" x 11⁄2" x 4" and bore two 3⁄8"-diameter holes through the edge. Use a finishing nail to tack this block to the edge of one project part, then use the holes to guide your drill bit. Remove the block, tack it to the adjoining piece of wood and drill through the same holes again. As long as the holes in your block are drilled square, you'll get perfectly aligned dowel holes across both halves of the joint, all with this simple, shop-built jig.
Watch the video below for a demo.
Regardless of how you drill your dowel holes, make them 1⁄8" deeper than they need to be on each side of the joint. This creates a small pocket where excess glue can gather during joint assembly. A cotton swab works perfectly for getting glue in the dowel holes and on the sides of the dowels themselves.
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