Summary

Placing dowels is time consuming since both dowels and holes need to align perfectly, which isn't always easy. With this jig you can set the distances, drill the holes and place the dowels knowing holes and dowels will align every time.

The 3D printed pieces have two holes, for 8mm and 6mm dowels. It has a flat surface for placing dowels anywhere, and a right angle with a 18mm face to center dowels on 18mm boards. The 3D printed pieces slide along a 8mm stainless steel shaft. I repurposed one from an old printer.

Using this jig is very simple and can be done in two ways:

A) Sequentially: Only two 3D printed blocks are needed.

1. Set the distance between holes by sliding the blocks and tightening the screws.
2. Drill a hole using the first block.
3. Place a dowel in the hole, and attach the first block.
4. With the first block pinned by the dowel, drill a new hole using the second block.
5. Move the first block over the second hole, place the dowel in the second hole.
6. Drill the next hole with the first block pinned at the second hole.
7. Repeat until enough holes are made. Repeat procedure on the other part.

B) All at once:

1. Use as many blocks as you need and set the spacing between them, the spacing doesn't needs to be even.
2. Clamp the jig and drill all holes at once.
3. Repeat on the other part making sure the direction of the jig remains the same.

There's two versions to the blocks. The only difference being the second version has holes modeled for threaded inserts and is a bit sturdier. They use M3 tapered screws, 10 and 12 mm long respectively