Enhanced Performance with POWERTEC Drilling Cobalt Collar 8 Inch Review

While this is an easy device to use, mine doesn't offer the best accuracy. While everything fits, there is an angle in the holes caused by a jig not allowing the boards to line up. I was going to pair a pair of 2x6's with this mount to create a countertop but due to this angle and the uneven boards I'm saying this mount WILL NOT WORK. There may be a flaw in what I bought, but so far I've made many test samples and none of them have been perfect.

This worked for a couple of holes but it's not a very good drill bit and it tries to bite off too much wood at first so it bounces around a lot before hitting the wood really well. Because of this, you really need to have a firm grip on the mount, even when it's clamped. The holes are too close to the edge and accuracy is lost with use, likely due to wear caused by the jump drill. When fewer than 20 holes were drilled, the clear plastic portion of the bracket began to crack, starting with the…

Perfect for me. I had never used dowels before and had no idea if I would enjoy the process and use them effectively. So I didn't want to spend too much, but I wanted to get big enough that I didn't abandon the whole concept because the tool was inferior. If you are in the same place buy this one. It's not self centering but it's heavy and I usually use it on a 3/4 inch shank where it fits perfectly. If you are a beginner, chuck it in well and drill straight through. The instructions on the…

I recently decided to try dowels instead of blind holes and this tool made it extremely easy. I've always hated seeing pocket holes when assembling furniture, even hiding them always bothered me. I couldn't afford a super good tool that makes a free mortise and tenon, and cookie cutters seemed reasonable, but I figured I'd give that a try first. Having used this to put together a few tables and tables, I don't plan to buy a cookie cutter any time soon. It's very simple and takes up almost no…

I rarely use dowels for carpentry but I had an application recently where dowels were the best solution. Despite some bad reviews, I decided to try the Powertec device as it was very cheap. That worked very well for my application. You must be very careful to ensure the stencil is positioned correctly to get accurate results. And while the clear plastic helps with initial alignment, it's somewhat flexible, so you'll need to press it very firmly against the base material to ensure your hole ends

I bought this to use dowels to join 90 degree corners and while it works well it has a few issues. The biggest and easiest way to improve this is to make the transparent part of the device out of polycarbonate. The current one breaks too easily in short falls on a bench or floor. I see others have complained about this as well. Why not just make it from unbreakable Powertec polyester? Also, the diameter of the pin holes is too large, making it difficult to be accurate to within 1/64 of an inch.

I used these dowel jigs (bought two sizes) in my shop a while back. Unfortunately I wasn't that happy with them. They work, but I think they're only good for casual use. I had constant alignment problems. The acrylic/plastic sheet had no friction on the wood and slid easily, even with a clip. I noticed that this mostly happened when the bit touched the wood and started biting. If this piece had some sort of texture or other means of bonding to the wood that would be a huge improvement. The…

Update: -1 star. Having made several tongue and groove connections I can say it's pretty good when it works. But it's those inexplicable things that really annoy me when I'm building a joint and all three marks are off by 1/16th of an inch. But 1/3 of the time the joints don't fit. The only way I've found is to cut off the side dowel pins to get the board in place. Other reviewers I join in complaining about the loose fit of the drill bit in the dowel jig. There is a little room for the chisel…