For longer boards that need a series of dowels along its length you could make a peg with a rod and stick it the last hole and hold the edge of the doweler againist the end of rod. That is want the dowelmax uses with their jig.
Got the grizzly branded version of this (they’re all made from the same Chinese factory). The top fence was complete misaligned to the drills, meaning it can’t actually join boards straight. Only had it out of the box for 2 hours and had to pack it back up for return
Joining with only two dowels is easy. However, if you put a dowel into every hole, then precisely locating the doweling machine on the marks becomes vitally important. Dowels are not loose fitting, and any discrepancy in the holes will accumulate along the length of the joint. This is where dominos and biscuits are much more forgiving.
I don't disagree. That's why I kept my joint genie. I am very much an amateur and try to keep things simple. I made my workbench using the joint genie with banks of 6 dowels in some of the joints all of which lined up. I don't think that would have worked with the dowler. However, for small joints requiring a couple of dowels the dowler is easier and quicker. The problem with a biscuit joiner is strength where dowels win hands down so I have read.
Hi, the alignment plate can be unscrewed and adjusted to right position. Another easy way is to remove it and align without plastic plate. Hope it can help.
Looks better than the Triton which I have and is absolutely rubbish why they keep selling it I don't know ,the damage to the brand is phenomenal,keen to try your one
I thank you very much for your time and knowledge to share the analysis of the machine, thank you again, God bless you, Master! Greetings from the city of Tehuacan, in the state of Puebla, in Mexico.
I really haven't had chance to use it again. However, when I did it met all my expectations. I am not a trained carpenter or cabinet make just hobiest and as such it met all my needs.
Different joints. Biscuits are primarily about alignment and don't add strength. Dowels are a sort of fixed tenon and may add strength, especially in MDF. Back in the day, glues were nowhere as strong as today, so we used tenons and mortices, floating tenons, and dowels. Modern glues are stronger than the material, so compared to old days, you often don't need any extra linkage between surfaces. I'd use biscuits to align panels in the same plane and dowels for panels at right angles. If I had the cash, I'd get a Domino, but I don't. And there are pocket screws almost as cheap as dowels
The problem I foresee is where you are joining wider boards. Any discrepancy is made worse by the number of dowels. So okay for two dowel joints, but the more dowels the more chance you have of problems. Also where you are using sight lines for alignment even half a mm can be problematic on hard wood. Pine & cheap ply you can probably pull the dowels over to fit one or two inaccurate holes. I too have the dowel hole jig you have. The problems I find with that is it does not centre and you have to be able to think about a mirror image for the mating board.
It is all about cost I suppose. The igooo is cheap and cheerful and suits my needs. I agree with your comment about the joint genie, you have to be so careful when using it.
Looks like it's good enough for its price, unlike the Triton that is overpriced for its quality and underpriced for its ambition, so it falls short of being a Mafell rival
![The Triton Duo Doweller is too cheap... [video 523]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HFZJuN4EX7I/mqdefault.jpg)
For longer boards that need a series of dowels along its length you could make a peg with a rod and stick it the last hole and hold the edge of the doweler againist the end of rod. That is want the dowelmax uses with their jig.
Good idea, thank you.
Got the grizzly branded version of this (they’re all made from the same Chinese factory). The top fence was complete misaligned to the drills, meaning it can’t actually join boards straight. Only had it out of the box for 2 hours and had to pack it back up for return
I have read a lot of comments about the accuracy of the dowler, however it is cheap for what it does. I use it with my trusty joint genie.
Joining with only two dowels is easy. However, if you put a dowel into every hole, then precisely locating the doweling machine on the marks becomes vitally important. Dowels are not loose fitting, and any discrepancy in the holes will accumulate along the length of the joint. This is where dominos and biscuits are much more forgiving.
I don't disagree. That's why I kept my joint genie. I am very much an amateur and try to keep things simple. I made my workbench using the joint genie with banks of 6 dowels in some of the joints all of which lined up. I don't think that would have worked with the dowler. However, for small joints requiring a couple of dowels the dowler is easier and quicker.
The problem with a biscuit joiner is strength where dowels win hands down so I have read.
Hi, the alignment plate can be unscrewed and adjusted to right position. Another easy way is to remove it and align without plastic plate. Hope it can help.
Thank you for the advice
Looks better than the Triton which I have and is absolutely rubbish why they keep selling it I don't know ,the damage to the brand is phenomenal,keen to try your one
Hi David, I am no expert and have never used any other dowler other than the joint genie. That said, it suits my needs used alongside the joint genie.
I thank you very much for your time and knowledge to share the analysis of the machine, thank you again, God bless you, Master! Greetings from the city of Tehuacan, in the state of Puebla, in Mexico.
So sorry for the late reply. Thank you for your kind comment.
From a wet and windy UK to a sunny Mexico.
If you buy the two boards together and make a line you will get more accurate lines than you do by measuring.
Good tip
How are your thoughts now after some time? Still recommended? Ofcourse we all want the festool domino jointer but so freaking expensive
I really haven't had chance to use it again. However, when I did it met all my expectations. I am not a trained carpenter or cabinet make just hobiest and as such it met all my needs.
Thanks for the review!
I hope it was useful.
Is this better than a biscuit jointer?
I have never used a biscuit joiner, from what I have read, the dowler creates a stronger joint. I am more than pleased with the dowler.
Different joints. Biscuits are primarily about alignment and don't add strength. Dowels are a sort of fixed tenon and may add strength, especially in MDF. Back in the day, glues were nowhere as strong as today, so we used tenons and mortices, floating tenons, and dowels. Modern glues are stronger than the material, so compared to old days, you often don't need any extra linkage between surfaces. I'd use biscuits to align panels in the same plane and dowels for panels at right angles. If I had the cash, I'd get a Domino, but I don't. And there are pocket screws almost as cheap as dowels
Would you be able to tell me the distance between the two holes the igooo makes?
Distance between the two centres is about 32mm.
@@casualwoodwork thanks 😊
The problem I foresee is where you are joining wider boards. Any discrepancy is made worse by the number of dowels. So okay for two dowel joints, but the more dowels the more chance you have of problems. Also where you are using sight lines for alignment even half a mm can be problematic on hard wood. Pine & cheap ply you can probably pull the dowels over to fit one or two inaccurate holes. I too have the dowel hole jig you have. The problems I find with that is it does not centre and you have to be able to think about a mirror image for the mating board.
It is all about cost I suppose. The igooo is cheap and cheerful and suits my needs.
I agree with your comment about the joint genie, you have to be so careful when using it.
Looks like it's good enough for its price, unlike the Triton that is overpriced for its quality and underpriced for its ambition, so it falls short of being a Mafell rival
For a professional it would probably fall short but for an amateur such as myself it ticks all the boxes.
🫣