What is a dowel joint?
“Dowel joints are a means of joining together the drawer pieces. The dows also form precise, stronger links in the joining pieces of wood than the simple use of glue alone. Dowel joints are unbelievably sturdy and extremely appealing when done properly. This type of joint is highly popular with drawers or other woodworking systems that use a butt joint. It contributes to increasing the joint's strength and durability”.
What is the use of Dowel Joints?
Dowel joint is utilised in a wide range of work assignments in woodworking. During and after production they offer a number of benefits
Improved strength - Miter and butt joints can only be bonded together sometimes. This means that the strains of any wood application on the joint will be worn. Moisture can also dry out or cause adhesive properties to be lost. Drilling into each connected piece of wood adds to the joints so as to share a bowl with the respective holes. The actual connection of the dowels enhances strength substantially.
Keep it straight- It can be a problem to glue and squeeze the pieces together without them during a drying and setting time when making wood goods without dowels. Including dowels guarantees that everything is well aligned and is completely straight and dries harder when glued and fastened.
How to make a dowel joint using a doweling jig?
The dowel joint holds two pieces together with the help of cylindrical wooden pegs or dowels that are inserted between them.
The tools and materials you would require are:
A depth gauge
A coping saw
Masking tape
A power drill
A ruler
A tri-square
A pencil
A file
A bench plain
A mallet
A clamp
A punch
A hammer
A marking gauge
Nails
Three identical work pieces dowels
Some adhesive
Sawdust
A rag
Join two workpieces of the same dimensions one piece perpendicular to the other, a third identical piece will be used to make a doweling jig.
A doweling jig is an intermediate piece which helps to drill down holes accurately by locating the point of the down on both pieces starting by centering a workpiece on the jig piece as shown below.
Now draw two lines to make its thickness, mark and draw a line running through the center between the two lines.
Using a tri square make or transfer these identical lines to the opposite side of the jig piece using a tri square.
Set the layout of the first we will hole by marking its distance from the edge of the jig piece, set it 2 cm and adjust a marking gauge to copy the point we have just made.
Now mark a second point along the center line from the opposite edge
Then mark the same point on the opposite surface of the piece as well
Punch holes to catch the drill bit
clamp the piece and drill halfway into its thickness at both points
Turn the piece over and drill through the remaining half of the thickness so the two holes run all the way through.
Now that the doweling jig is ready you can drill the dowel holes.
The hole and assemble the joint the two key steps are drilling the holes and the assembly.
Step1: Drilling holes
Start by marking one side of the workpieces and the doweling jig as to avoid the confusion.
Mark the two pieces A and B, and each of them is a little more than 2.5 cm thick, two workpiece and the dowel jig.
Take half the thickness of a workpiece and add it to the full thickness of the doweling jig, total measurement is 4 cm.
Measure the same distance from the tip of the drill bit and apply masking tape to help gauge the depth of the drought holes as we drill them.
Position the doweling jig on the top of one workpiece with all edges aligned
Clamp both pieces with the doweling jig setting on top now hold the drill at 90 degrees and drill into the workpiece through the holes of the doweling jig.Stop reaches the mouth of the hole.
Now use a depth gauge to check you have drilled deep enough.
Now the horizontal piece of the jointis ready , you can drill down holes into the eng grain of the vertical piece and mark it as A.
For the dowel jig to remain on the final grain in two nails on each of the two lines that mark the thickness of the item. Hammer with two nails.
Clamp the workpiece with the side which needs to be drilled facing up and place the doweling jig on top of it.
Use a clamp to ensure that the jig stays in place, hold the drill at right angle and drill into the workpiece through the holes of the doweling jig as before.
Step 2 : Assembly
Now that the dowel holes are ready go ahead and fit the dowels using a dowel that is slightly thicker than the drill bits that we used to create the dowel holes as the fit is tight you will need to plane the dowel down to the right circumference. Use the workpiece to check the size of the dowel as you plan it.
As the dowel holes have been drilled to a depth of 2 cm you will need to measure and mark 4 cm for the dowel. For the second dowel saw the 4 cm mark to create dowels that will be used to hold the joint in place.
Use a file to end the dowels. This helps it enter the dowel holes easily and allows space for the adhesive that will be applied.
Apply adhesive on one end of the first down that fits the dowel into the dowel hole .
use a mallet to tap it until it has covered the full depth.
Wipe the adhesive off using a rag.
Now do the same for the second down measure protruding section of the dowel and make sure it fits well into the dowel holes of the other workpiece.
NOTE: If the dowels are longer than the depth of the dowel holes, turn the piece to the side and use a saw to reduce it down to size . check the length once more
Use a file to round the loose end of the dowels. Apply adhesive on the dowels and parts of the workpiece that will make contact in the joint.
Use a mallet to tap the loose ends of the dowels into the dowel holes of the other workpiece. Wipe the squeezed out adhesive with a rag.
Use a tri-square to make sure the pieces join at right angles.
Apply sawdust along the edges of the joint
After following this procedure at the end you will get the dowel jig which would look like this
