Dowel Jig

[Buemaker]

Have anyone any experience with this package, it looks like a very good dowel  jig. I am thinking take down limb bolts. I know there are less expensive ones, but ? Bue--.
 http://www.dowelmax.com/

[LittleBen]

Seems like a quality piece of equipment, but thats alot of money, and it doesn't seem perfectly adapted to drilling limb bolts.

For that much money why not design/ have a machine shop make you a custom takedown bolt drilling jig? I have an idea I'll try to post later for a self centering jig you could use for any limb width. You can steal my idea if you like it.

[Buemaker]

Very good,I like stealing other peoples ideas     Let's see it. Bue--.

[LittleBen]

Here's the basic concept. Color coded for those not familiar with 3view drawings. It's not necessarily to scale.

Green portion is the drill guide body, Blue is the pivot arms, red are retainers/clamp, Orange is the riser drilling guide holes, brown is the limb drilling guide holes, purple is pivot pins or screws.

Basically no matter what angle the blue pivot arm is in relation to the drill guide body, the red retainer/clamp portions are the same distance from the centerline of the jig. This way, no matter the width of the limb or riser, the holes will always be centered.

Basically it would operate in this way. Place the green drill guide body over the surface to be drilled, press red retaining/clamp bars together until th elimb is securely between them, apply c clamp over both red retaining bars (across the width of the limb) to apply pressure and ensure no slippage of the jig occurs. Drill holes.


If you decide to make the jig there are a couple things to remember. The blue pivot arms must be the same length. and be symmetrical about the centerline of the drill guide body. If there's something not clear let me know.

 

[2treks]

That's a neat concept for a jig. I like it.


Another option,

 http://www.dowl-it.com/

For $80 or less. this is money well spent. I think.
CTT

[Buemaker]

Interesting , nice drawing. Thank you. Bue--.

[LittleBen]

Yeah that dowl-it jig looks like a much better plan than trying to concoct the one I proposed. Plus you don't have to do work.

The main thing is that a drilling jig for takedowns needs to be self-centering which the dowl-it is.

[scars]

Pricey Bue,

I suspect that you will still have to make shop jigs and spacers to obtain the correct center on your riser and limbs. Depending on your drill press size The questions that need to be address are: Does the dowel jig fit with the riser/limbs on the drill press table including the vise and all other jigs needed for the setup of the the drilling of the holes?
metric inserts or fractional?
replacement parts, shipping times?

Two Tracks link is what I would choose for a dowel jig but you are in a metric based country. And I see no inserts on the dowl-it site for metric or metric bits.

Europe has some great tools for wood working, I think you can find a centering dowel jig for a better price.

The dowel max looks more like a statis symbol then a tool that saves time and setup. in my opinion.

Joe

[scars]

Little Ben your drawing looks like a router jig I use to use for making flutes on door casing years ago.

[Kauz]

Hello,
living in Germany, I didn't find anything like the Dowl-It Jig, so I ordered one from US some years ago. At that time, there were additional metric bushings available, but I ordered only 10 mm and 8 mm. 2 years ago I tried to order from their website, when there were still metric bushings listed, but they didn't ship outside US then any more (no wonder they didn't sell metric bushings, eh?) and gave me another web address to ask. Never got an answer. The jig and Imperial bushings are available from several US tool dealers e.g. Highland woodworking, and Imperial drills you could buy in UK. Only problem for me were the pins, as I couldn't get any 1/4" rod in Europe, so I ordered from Grainger. But cost for shipping was about $47 as opposed to $18 for the rods without any notification in advance. For bushings, I drilled out some 6mm ID tubing, but that was a PITA.

[scars]

Well try amazon
 http://www.amazon.com/07900MTK-Self-Centering-Metric-Doweling/dp/B00DM5SILS/ref=sr_1_15?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1388195212&sr=1-15&keywords=self+centering+dowel+jig

[beachbowhunter]

This one works well for me

 http://www.task-usa.com/task-d.htm

[Kauz]

Thanks for the links. Unfortunately, Amazon don't sell bushings separately, neither Imperial nor metric. Task-USA only sell Imperial, also no extra bushings.

[savage1]

Bue I have a jig I use and it is simple to make
 and less than $20 for steel and bolts.
It is not perfection but it works for me.

I don't know how to post pictures here but I can email them to you or anyone that wants o put them up on the thread.
PM me.

Lou

[Buemaker]

Lou, PM sent. Thanks. Bue--.

[savage1]

Pics sent. Let me know if they come thru.
I call it my direct transfer jig. Let me know what you think or any modifications

Lou

[fujimo]

hey Bue,would be awesome if you could post some pics of tghe tool- got my interest!!
many thanks!!

[savage1]

Pics. sent. Let me know what you think. If you use it and find improvement please let me know.
Lou

[Buemaker]

I'll try to post pics of Lou's drilling jig. Photobucket is messing with me tonite.
 

[Buemaker]

Again.