Milescraft 1333 Dowel Jig Kit

Don't spend a boatload on a doweling jig! No more than I use it, this works.

First time working with, dropped from waist high and a peg broke off. My fault but sheeeeesh very fragile so had to ding a star off. I used super glue as best I could and it seems to work as intended. Instructions are great. Supplied extras are good.

Holes do not center perfectly. I used it on 3/4" board and none of the angles worked to make a perfect center on the board. Still works ok and drills straight but you have to make sure you flip the boards on the correct side.

I gave it 4 stars for ease of use but really think it is more 3.5. The pros are that it comes with everything you need to get started including the most common dowel sizes. It provides drill bits, collars and the allen wrench to loosen/tighten the collars. It also came with glue. This is everything needed to start. Its also lightweight and comes with a case to keep things organized and neat. It really helped me with alignment of the two joining dowel holes. Some of the cons as a beginner: 1) It should have a vice of sorts to tighten against the object. The drill causes vibrations and you need to coordinate how you hold everything or make sure you clamp it well to something and you clamps also clamp both the objects you intend to join. I use both hands to drill and because of vibrations, it helps me to drill steady and straight and the the dowel jig has a "fence" to place against your object you are drilling on but that's it. 2) The plastic is only ok. I think it could wear over time pretty quickly. I did not have any instructions. I had a precision drill so I had a little experience with dowels using it but it would have been nice to have instructions. YouTube has some videos that were great and helpful. I still had some issues with centering, collar slippage, and there is some slack on the dowel holes for the size of dowels used (not a snug fit). Maybe it is supposed to be looser (not sure). My dowel joinery is getting pretty good and the finished look is great, but it is still tedious. I cannot afford the tools for domino joinery but I am looking at routers next and hope to move up to box or dove joinery jig kits. I don't think I will ever completely move away from dowels so I am still very glad I bought it. I would suggest you look at the steel, clamping Milescraft dowel jig before you decide to buy. I still may buy the steel clamping version.

This is a great and inexpensive little jig for installing various sized dowels. It makes really quick work of adding them into your project. Would recommend.

A handy tool to simplify the process of using dowels in woodworking projects. Yes, it is a process, but most things are. This tool and accessories make doweling much easier.

I understand that there are more professional options out there, but for the price this dowel jig is amazing. Just make sure to use wood clamps and don't try drilling by just holding everything down.

Once I got the hang of using it, it worked great. Used it to make a cabinet and it provided accurate drilling for dowels for a variety of joints. It is important to understand the mechanics and keep track of how boards fit together by marking sides and ends. Because it was so easy to use it made the project for fun. Comes with a reasonably nice case to keep things organized.