Eleon - Self Centering Dowel Jig with Elongated Jaws and Extra Wide Clamp - Durable Aluminum Alloy Dowel Drill Guide - Blue

This dowel jig is heavy duty and well finished. It looks and feels like a quality tool.The way this tool works is by means of a threaded rod that's forward thread on one half and reverse thread on the other. The threads on side of the rod ride on the threaded portion of one clamping block, whereas the threads on the other side of the rod ride on the threaded washer that is fixed in place with two 4 mm hex screws. Turn the handle and the clamp blocks move either inwards or outwards depending on the direction of rotation.In use there are several things to do to get it ready for use. Skipping these steps could lead to a less than satisfactory experience.First, check the two 4 mm hex screws to make sure they are tight. Not too tight; just enough to lock the threaded washer in place. Mine was loose after I turned them playing around wondering what they do! Anyway, you ought to be comfortable loosening them for different applications (more on that later).Next, turn the rod until the clamping blocks meet the drilling block. If they meet simultaneously, that's good. When turning the rod in the other direction, if the clamping blocks retreat simultaneously, that's good. If they don't then adjustment is needed to center the device.To adjust, loosen the rod a bit, then loosen the two 4 mm hex screws. Then turn the rod so the clamping block with the fixed thread just meets the drilling block. Now turn the loosened threaded washer like it was a nut until the clamping block on that side just meets the drilling block, then tighten the 4 mm screws. Now try opening and closing the clamping blocks by turning the main rod back and forth. The clamping blocks should come together and retreat simultaneously. If not, readjust until you get a satisfactory alignment.One other thing I did was to remove the 5 mm grub (set) screw on top and place a 1/4-inch (other sizes should work) ball bearing into the threaded hole, and then replace the grub screw (I used Teflon tape as a weak thread locker). That ball bearing puts additional pressure on a pin that rests at the bottom of the hole beneath the 5 mm grub screw. The grub screw pushes down on the pin to tighten the connection between the drilling block and the double threaded main rod in order to minimize slop in the drilling block. I found there was too much slop. The additional ball bearing will align into the recess on the bottom of the grub screw and push further down on the exact center of the pin until the main rod will no longer turn. At that point back the grub screw off a tiny bit so the rod does turn, but not so much there's slop when you wiggle the drilling block. This adjustment ought to be done before the other adjustments noted above.One more point about all these adjustments is that once you're familiar with them you can confidently set dowels off center as your project requires.Verdict:Recommended.With these adjustments, this dowel jig is exceptional.

I'm not a big furniture maker but have made a number of pieces of “furniture” over the years and many of them could use dominoes err dowels to hold them together. So when another project presented itself recently I decided it was time to order a dowel jig.Amazon has a bunch of dowel jigs so why did I order this particular one? First this was the self centering style I was looking from and it needed to be in metal. Second the price slotted right in where my budget had an opening. So when this arrived I was pleasantly surprised how well built this is. I mean it's heavier than I expected, I doubt this is zinc or aluminum for sure.After familiarizing myself with how it operates I got right to it. Everything lined up good and I tried the ¼” dowel. Drew a line, zip zip with the drill bit and moment of truth. Yeah it lines up great. Instructions do a pretty good job explaining how to use it as well as how to adjust it if the centerline begins to drift.Overall I'm quite pleased with it. The only thing I wish this had and I can't believe I'm about to say this but a case. To many tools come with cases that don't ever need them. I mean come on who's putting their cordless drill, battery and charger back in a case everytime. To the 1 person reading this who does, tsk tsk you shoulda bought a screwdriver. Back on point, there are a few small loose parts I'll need to keep track of and I don't want this getting banged around to much losing center so I'll probably store this in the box it came with for safe keeping.

This self centering dowel jig is great for drilling centered and aligned dowel holes. I used this jig to repair a broken bookshelf and a picture frame that needed new dowel holes drilled and it worked perfectly. The clamp made it easy to line up the the holes with the wood and then kept the wood secure as I drilled the new dowel holes. After drilling the new dowel holes, I was happy to see that they were perfectly centered which made my repair job look and fit like a professional woodworker would. The jg itself is well made and the screw mechanism for the clamp tightens easily. I would recommend this tool to anyone who needs a high quality, self-centering dowel jig.

If you have ever found yourself in the position of making joints using dowels without having a jig, you know how time consuming and difficult it can be to make everything line up perfectly. That is why if you are going to be making a lot of this type of joint you will want to get a dowling jig. This particular one is well made and works very well for getting everything centered and drilled properly. It is suitable for using 1/4 inch, 5/16 inch, 3/8 inch, 7/16 inch or 1/2 inch dowels. They have even included an assortment of the three smaller sizes. To do those sizes, there are inserts that you screw into the threaded holes. There are two inserts of each of these sizes so that in case you want to put multiple dowels 3/4 of an inch apart, you can drill two holes, put one dowel in and move over to the next to get them all even. The jig has clear markings to help you line things up and make sure everything is perfectly centered and matches on both parts of your project. It is easy to use and very accurate. Once you have used one of these jigs for making dowel joints, you will never want to go back to the tedious old method.To help understand how I rate items:My philosophy is, that for a rating system to be effective, the highest rating and the lowest rating should be reserved for a relatively small percentage of the best and the worst products. If I give a product four stars, it is because I believe it is a very good product. To get five stars from me requires a product to go above and beyond and really impress me beyond my expectations. By the same token, a product has to be VERY, VERY bad to get only one star from me. One thing that I DON'T take into consideration with my ratings is price. I may make a general statement such as “this is a good value” but it will not affect my star rating. The reason is that product prices change, even from day-to-day. Also what one person may consider a good price someone else might not. I feel it is more important to review the quality and features of a product and let the buyer decide whether the current price is worth it to them. Another thing that I don't take into consideration are issues with shipping. This is because the seller does not always have control over that. Following is each of the five categories of *stars* and how I assign them to a product:***** Five stars - The product exceeded my expectations. I really love it and would actively suggest it to friends and would certainly purchase it again if needed.**** Four stars - The product met my expectations. It does what it claims to do. I like it and would recommend it to someone if they asked about it. I would Most likely purchase it again if needed .*** Three stars - The product is average and for the most part does what it claims. There may be a few things I don't like about it. If I recommended it to someone, I would state my reservations. I may purchase it again if I could not find a better alternative.** Two stars - The product fell far short of my expectations. It may, in some respects, do what it claims to do but has far too many problems to overlook. I would never recommended it to someone nor would I ever purchase it again. There is a good possibility I would return it.* One star - The product is terrible. It has way too many cons and few if any pros. I would actively warn my friends away from it and would most likely return it if possible.

Previously, I purchased the Kreg version of this tool, which is simply a plastic piece with holes drilled through it and relies on friction to hold on to a board with 2 different sized grooves cut in to it. It works ok as long as you are using boards in one of those 2 sizes and those boards are uniformly thick (which is rare). This tool adjusts to any size board, is made of durable metal parts and clamps on using threaded bars similar to a bar clamp. The drill holes are adjustable in size also with the use of included metal inserts that screw right in. Easy to use.