Review on Jessem Model 08350 Dowelling Master by Amador Buckenmeyer

This device is shaped like a tank. It's powerful, accurate, and relatively easy to use. I've currently used it on about 500 dowels, 80% of which were 3/8" and the rest 1/4". The stop rings on the bit have never slipped despite multiple depth adjustments with 3/8" and 1/4" bits. The bits stayed sharp and the device itself wasn't worn at all. Changing the dowel centerline on a fixture is very intuitive and can be calculated in minutes for an offset joint. What can be improved? This device is definitely not easy to use with thin or narrow material. Sometimes you can't see your center mark because the device completely covers it. Its main drawback is a couple of dowels in a narrow blank. The device's robust design makes it difficult to use with thin or narrow material. You need to clamp both ends of the workpiece and have a place to attach the jig to these parts and move them from end to end. You will spend a lot of time figuring out the best way to position the clamps and holes on narrow blanks. And each side usually requires at least 2 dowels, making it a chore at times. I would like JessEm to also make a clamp or clamps for this jig. I currently use an end clamp and if I'm not careful the clamp can shift the mount 1/32" to 1/16" from the base, which was disastrous for me when using the jig to pair plywood with a beveled wood frame used. I considered using 2 clamps but at this point using this jig is time consuming which should have saved me time. After all, I don't have a vice. I had to make a quick attachment to attach it to the table saw fence. This is not required, but makes reuse easier and faster. My initial hope was to use it in making beveled wooden frames around plywood. It looks like the notch cutter and splines are what I'll be looking at now for beveled frames. I will continue to use this jig for attaching aprons to table legs as well as aligning thicker pieces in large seams. If you can get away with a 3/8" set I would buy it retrospectively and save some money.