The POWERTEC 71497 Dowel Drilling Jig with Cobalt M-35 Drill Bitcomes with a premium ⅜ inch drill bit. The bit is precision machined with high-speed steel, with a 135-degree split point. The jig itself has a clear acrylic faceplate that is designed for easy viewing. There is a line printed along the center, making it easy to pinpoint where to drill. There are two guide holes, helping to drill perfect dowel joints.

Brad point bits fit the bill perfectly, as they drill such clean holes and are produced in sizes that accommodate the most common sizes of dowel. These are 6mm, 8mm and 10mm (dowel pegs are most commonly sold using metric measurements). The closest imperial equivalents are 1/4″, 5/16″ and 3/8″ respectively. Another one of the best doweling jigs I’ve come across is the Yours Bath 41 piece woodworking kit. It’s just about as simple as drilling jigs come, but it gets the job done without costing you much money at all. Countersinks are available with fitted handles so that they can be used by hand twisting, often easier than changing the bit in the drill when only a relatively few holes need countersinking. Sharpening: difficult, but can be done with a fine triangular file. Countersink with clearance drill If you use dowels to hold your work, you'll find this little tool a real gem,” explained one reviewer who found it convenient for projects such as edge-glued boards or stile and rail constructions. The tool properly centers against the edge getting drilled, which ensures accurate alignment. The customer wrote that this tool is worth the investment. Another customer noted that the jig is well-constructed and sturdy to use.

Make an offset joint: Add a spacer block

Make sure that it’s about the same size as the other pieces of wood you’re going to use. Carefully mark two points on it that are the right distance apart, and then hammer a nail into each of those points. Thincol makes a handful of tool add-ons and jigs aimed at making woodworking jobs more precise, and this dowel jig kit does just that. But for more sophisticated jobs/material, others bits will be required - perhaps larger, or designed for a specific material/purpose. Best Drill Bits For Plastic A spur or Brad point drill bit, ideal for drilling plastic. Photo by Emrys2 licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Also Available at: The Home Depot, Sears, and Walmart 2. Best Self-Clamping Dowel Jig—Milescraft 1311 Joint Pro Doweling Jig

How it works

These are some of the only drill bits you can buy right now that are designed specifically for use on plastics, including hard plastics such as acrylic. The reason doweling jigs are so useful is that you need to make sure that the holes you’re drilling on each piece of wood line up with each other, but you can do that without one. The simplest way is to take a piece of scrap wood that you don’t need for anything else While dowel jigs can be very useful if you want to drill some holes to reinforce something with dowels, they’re not absolutely necessary, and you can definitely get by without one. We’ll explain how you can do it here.

Germany’s Wolfcraft are famous for their quality woodworking tools. Their Undercover jig set is billed as the complete set for invisible fastenings. I’m inclined to agree with them, it’s a handy kit supplied in its own carry case that keeps everything organised and out of trouble. Usuallyreferred to as twist drills, twist bits are probably the most common drilling tools used by the handyman with either a hand or electric drill. The front edges cut the material and the spirals along the length remove the debris from the hole and tend to keep the bit straight.

Many doweling joints have features that are designed to make the tool as simple as possible to use. Self-centering and self-clamping jigs can take the guesswork out of tool setup and precision, but consider whether they’re the right choice in every situation. In some cases, a simple handheld dowel jig may be all you need. What Are Your Bushing Needs? Like the Hole Saw above, these combination saws can cut large holes but they consist of a number of different sized round saw blades, usually ranging from about 25 to 62mm in diameter. Normally the blade are secures by a radial screw in the 'head', all blades other than the desired sized being removed before the screw is inserted to secure the required diameter blade. Best used in a power drill at low speed as the blade saws it's way through the material. This dowel jig is made of high-quality metal and feels like it will stand up to extensive use and won’t get damaged easily. It weighs just 2.8 pounds , so it’s not difficult to set up on your workpiece or adjust.