AUTOTOOLHOME Centering Dowelling Locator Woodworking Review

This unit works exceptionally well with two exceptions. The two bolts holding the swing arms to the center member are not tight enough and allow some slip/movement and the guides can move. A bushing or special screws fix this. I solved this problem by making sure I move the lead to one side on each piece.

Just received today and had time to check fitment. It is correct and easy to use. The drill guide is slightly crooked, but when I glued the test pieces together they were straight and flush. I used a clamp and squeezed the side so it wouldn't move. I could have used the pins that came with the kit but the clips assure me it won't move. So far, great jig.

Started a project to make a base for a freestanding cabinet. After using the device, the parts did not fit together well. I looked at various options and found that the 1/4" bushings were 1/32" off center. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it's a lot of sanding, and because my two dowels were less than 1 inch apart, they turned into a corner! Parts were neither level nor in the strait.

The two dowel hole sizes advertised are incorrect, instead of 1/4", 3/8", 5/16", they are actually 5/16 "3/8" (close but not exact) and 15/54" I'm assuming these are metric sizes. That means the dowel pieces I bought (200 pieces) are completely wasted with this bracket. Not sure if the pack of 9 gadgets is fake or if it is. To stay updated

I've used many different dowel tools over the years and they all perform mediocre. This one is great, it's solid, accurate, very easy to use and the pencil position for marking the center lines is a nice addition. The only thing I would recommend alternating with the tool is to draw the center line at the pencil location the same way you do the dowel sleeve locations. Also, there are no problems with it and I highly recommend it.

I bought this unit to center the swing arm, unlike the clamp types of other units I have. I also liked what I thought was a second set of holes between the three, but didn't look closely enough at the pictures to see it was a marker hole. The main problem with the accuracy of this device is that the pilot drills have many holes. slope for their intended size, and the thread travel is longer than the depth of the center bar. The sockets drawn into the rod are proud. This raises the centering rod

This tool can be a great tool. Upon opening it, however, I noticed that the 3/8" bushings were worn as if the cutting tool used was in poor condition. This can be clearly seen in the general photo above on the right and in the detail photo of the socket. The diameter has been increased by 0.035 inches. The processing quality made all 3/8 inch sockets unusable. Also, while the 5/16" bushings were much improved, they were .010" larger and one of them was rusted internally. This can be seen in…