Dowelmax Testimonials
We think our Dowelmax joint making system is pretty terrific, but don't take our word for it, read what the "Experts" are saying and also the buzz on chat lines:
I bought a Dowel Max jig at the woodworking show in Ottawa, Ontario last year. I was very impressed by the demo given by Jim Lindsay at the show. I like owning and using quality made tools that look as good as they perform. I am a novice woodworker and wanted to start making furniture for my baby girls. I bought the Dowel Max as a way to make quality joints without having to buy expensive or complicated equipment/tools. I was VERY IMPRESSED at the innovative yet simple design, quality and beauty of construction as well as, and most importantly, the easy of use. It produced excellent joints for me on my first attempt - very satisfied! I was so impressed that I couldn't wait to show it to any of my family or friends who knew anything about woodworking. I get much pleasure from using such a quality tool. Most importantly though, I can make great woodworking projects with the Dowel Max and a other few simple tools. I hope your product continues to provide such excellent service and results to other enthusiastic craftsmen - be they novice or expert. May you have the best of success with your excellent product,
Marc Dominique
Ottawa, Ont
Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that all the hype that you exuded on the phone was being a bit modest. This tool is phenomenal, case closed. The joints are super tight, perfectly aligned, and relatively quick to produce, all at a fraction of the cost of other products at twice the price or better. The trade off in time was offset by the strength of these joints. I was a little leery of purchasing it as I have tools that do nothing but collect dust on a shelf as they work no where near there suggested advertisement.
Thank you again for all the assistance, and I wish the whole company all the best as you do have a superb product that does all it is said to do. Good luck, and all the best to you!
Bill
I just wanted to let you know that I got my Dowelmax today. I'm moving in a few weeks so I don't have the time to give it a full test run, but I did make a perfect butt joint about 5 minutes after I opened the box. I know this will be a well used tool in my shop and I cant wait to finish my move and set up my new shop so I can put it to work. Thanks again for this great product made in North America. Unfortunately it's getting harder and harder to find anything made in the US or Canada as most places ship their manufacturing overseas to cut costs. I applaud you for not doing this and producing Dowelmax in your home country. I was on the fence for a few weeks, then I pulled the trigger and Im glad I did. Thanks again,
Chuck Tringo
I've owned the Dowel Max now for about 3 years. After several reviews, and much searching I chose your tool for the quality and accuracy in being able to join 2 pieces of wood, with little effort to ensure that accuracy.
In that 3 years, I can say without hesitation, that your tool is one the finest tools that I own in my woodshop. I've become rather fond of it to do all manner of quick case construction for my shop cabinets and I use it extensively in any work I do for my budding furniture restoration and conservation commissions. I can't thank you enough.
Thank you,
Daniel Pittsford.
Hi,
2 years ago I bought the Dowelmax at a show in Ottawa. I was never working on medium projects because of the joint problem. Since I have this tool, it's a real pleasure to do it! I use dowels instead of just glue because I know it will work the first time each time! I just love it!
Thankyou very much for that tool.
Yves Laforest
www.cade-bois.com
Greetings from Newfoundland:
I am a little overdue in writing you about the Dowelmax tool that I purchased from you. I wanted to wait until I had completed the first project using your tool. It was a fairly simple project, a foot stool made out of birch. I was very pleased at how accurate and simple it was to join the pieces together.
When I received the Dowelmax I was immediately impressed with the obvious quality of engineering and precision contruction of the tool. It is easy to use and the resulting joint is precise and strong. It is a delight to use. I should have had one ages ago, makes an average woodworker like me look like a pro.
Thanks for the great service and product support.
Regards,
Dave Sperry
Frenchman's Cove, NL
Dear Jim & Marie Lindsay
It has been over five years since you generously donated a Dowelmax for my workshop. I am attaching an article that appeared in a newspaper a few years back for you to read on how the shop has evolved. The cabinet in the photo was put together by a Police Officer who used the Dowelmax for the very first time after I received it.
Since starting the workshop, I have had in excess of 100 Emergency Service Workers visit the shop. Some just dropped by for a chat, while others spent a great deal of time learning a new hobby to help them cope with their situation. The whole concept of the shop is to help those in need find a way to be constructive, rather than destructive, during the difficult period of recovery following their critical incident at work.
I am happy to report that each and every emergency service worker has since returned to work. Three separate workers have since returned home to their families after finding themselves locked out with no where to go, no place to sleep and falling into desperate times through alcohol abuse.
By offering a place to escape and find a hobby away from the job, many have now created their own workshops at home.
I have had to close my shop as we have recently moved out to the country. I am in the process of building a brand new and much larger workshop that will be able to accommodate more workers.
With a new shop, come new tools. If you happen to now any companies that might be able to help me, I would greatly appreciate you spreading the word.
Please pass along my sincerest thanks to everyone involved with O. M. S. Tool Company. Your generosity has helped many men and women in the Emergency Services in more ways than you can imagine.
The Dowlemax in the shop has been used extensively. It has been borrowed, lost, found and borrowed again as it just happens to be one of the most used items when it comes to cabinet joinery.
You should be very proud of your invention!
From all of us here in the shop, we cannot thank you enough for your act of kindness.
Warmest Regards,
Constable Gary Phillips
York Region Police
Media Relations Officer
17250 Yonge Street
Newmarket, Ontario
L3Y 5W4
I am writing to let you know how pleased I am with your product. I purchased my Dowelmax in 2003 after seeing numerous ads in my subscription of Wood Magazine. From the ad it seemed to be a far superior product than the "run-of-the-mill" doweling jigs. As soon as I got it out of the box I could tell it was a well made precision piece of equipment.
I'm a carpenter/woodworker and some years back in my "apprentice days" I learned the mortise and tennon joint, "the strongest joint in woodworking". I've sworn by them ever since and I've put a lot of time, effort and money in trying to perfect them. Six years ago I bought a bench top mortiser for two hundred and thirty dollars. I soon grew out of it and upgraded to a stand alone model with much more capacity and features. That set me back eleven hundred dollars. Had I known about the precision, strength and speed of a Dowelmax joint I never would have wasted so much time and money. As you may know, a simple mortise and tennon joint is time consuming (measuring, set up, calculations, dry fitting etc.)
When I got the Dowelmax to my shop, I couldn't wait to try it out. So I took some scrap pieces of cedar and made a mortise and tenon joint with my mortiser and table saw. The whole process took about 35 minutes. Then I set up my Dowelmax with the proper spacers and drilled out both pieces in about 3 minutes. I glued both the dowelled and mortise and tennon joints with polyeurathane glue, clamped them and called it done. I forgot to label which was which. Its been almost three years now and both pieces have been outside my shop for most of that time and both joints are still intact. I've even set my plow on them to keep it from freezing into the ground last winter. This spring I dug them out of the mud and they were both still strong.
Since then I've used my Dowelmax on countless projects and I've never been let down yet. Its an absolute pleasure to use every time. I appreciate the time I save and its precision and strength on every joint. It's versatile and with double or triple rows of dowels, its strength is unrivaled. I think when more people find out about this it will be the wave of the future for craftsmen like myself. My mortiser is now the most expensive coat rack that I know of. Keep up the good work. Thanks again and best of luck.
Chris Davidson
Top Notch Carpentry
After viewing your DVD and even though I already own several doweling jigs (which I would be happy to sell to anyone who wants them), I decided to give your product a try.
I ordered my unit last Thursday and received it yesterday afternoon. I used it last night on the cabinets that I am currently making for my daughter-in-law and to my astonishment, it worked as you described in your video and I am extremely pleased with the results the first time I used it.
I will be giving the DVD disk that came with my unit yesterday to another individual that I know who does woodworking and will make my unit available to him to try if he so desires.
I will definitely spread the word around here about your unit. It is certainly the first doweling jig I have used that came out perfect and on the first use. My other units have never came out with the results that I have received from the Dowelmax even after years of trying.
Thank you,
Russ Lange
May 9, 2006
Mr. Jim Lindsay, President
Mr. Lindsay, I own and operate a small Custom Woodworking Company dba Signature Wood Products, One of the products that I build is high end custom baby cradles. I just converted to dowel joints from mortise and tenon joints using the Dowelmax Kit. The cradle has sixteen joints that were previously mortise and tenon, I have easily cut six hours from the construction time on the cradle and of course that converts to many dollars in man hours.
I would also like to say that the Dowelmax is so simple to operate, I wish I would have been aware of your product when it first came onto the market. In my opinion Dowelmax makes the mortise and tenon joint mostly obsolete.
Sincerely, Max Gallup
Owner Signature Wood Products Rigby, Idaho USA
May 10, 2006
Mr Lindsay
I received my Dowelmax in the mail yesterday, and took it out of the box. This is really a nice tool. Took it out to the garage to try it out, and it worked just like you said it would. I tried it on two joints , and they came out perfect. I dont mind spending extra on a tool that is this nice, and works this good. Just wanted to say thanks, and keep up the good work.
Thanks,
Robbi Terry
March 29, 2006
Hello,
Recently a friend gift me with a Dowelmax jig. In my opinion it is a fantastic woodworking tool. We have only one problem in use it here in Brazil (my country),the size of our dowel pins are in mm and we can't find any wood dowel in inches size.
He purchased a complete kit (with 3/8" and 1/4" kits).For use in 1/4" size is easier because we have 6 mm dowel pin,but for use a 3/8" kit our 10mm dowel pin is so tight. Can you have any idea to me to use my jig using our mm size over cheap wood dowels?
To buy a wood pin made in USA or Canada can be to expensive to me.
If you make a 10 mm drill guide to me and send to my Brazilian address how many Dollars I have to pay you back. How to procedure in this case?
I still use my 1/4" guides until I have a way to use a bigger dowel pin.
Thanks for invent this magnific jig and for your effort in resolve my simple problem.
Tip: If you want one day in sell your jig here in Brazil think about mm drill guides.
If you need I can send the copy of purchase comprovant (he purchased by Amazon).
Sds, Emerson
March 5, 2006
Dear Mike,
I just finished construction of a frame in 2 by 4 white oak using the dowelmax. It is a real joy seeing wood fit so perfectly together.
The dowelmax performs very well, better than I have expected. The 10mm drill guides work perfect. With the 10.1 mm drill bit it gave me a good fitting joint using a three row 8 dowel configuration. Also tried the 8 mm guides for making panels out of 18 mm thick stock. I will never use biscuits again. the panels can out perfect, almost no sanding needed.
I made one change to the unit. I was not happy with the t-joint bracket, for making panel joints. I used a long piece of aluminum profile in which the reference block tracks. In this way I only need 2 pencil marks for a perfectly square result. I put a measuring tape on the profile to give me accurate positioning of the reference block. This works perfect.
Maybe it would be a good idea to sell spacers made out of laminated shimstock. this way users can peel a spacer to the dimension they often use.
perfect product!!
Regards,
Arjan Wesselink
May 24, 2006
Mike,
I received my Dowelmax kit yesterday. It is a beautifully
made tool! Drilled a few holes with it today, definitely a precision tool,
and well worth the purchase.
Regards
Andy Peak
January 18, 2006
I have used your jig for ten months. I do not usually give testimonials. This product is incredible. It is so precise. It has never been off. I use it for everything. Plus it is a beautiful woodworking tool. What a time saver. No more mortise tenon joints unless they are through joints. Even on projects that dowels are not the main component I throw in a few precise dowels for alignment. This alone is a huge time saver. It saves tremondous time in clamping and aligning and swearing while the glue is setting. It is so simple to use. I did not have to even see the video because it is so common sense. This along with my festool saw and guiderail are my most used tools. I do not understand why this tool doesnt get more press and is present in every workshop. I just wish I did not hesitate for years to buy the product.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely
-Robert.
Greetings from Squamish
My wife just bought me a Dowelmax for Christmas and I just wanted to let
you know how pleased I am with its performance. I really appreciate good
quality tools and yours is one of them. Thanks for a great tool.
Mike
Dear Mike,
Ross here from Australia. I purchased the Dowelmax about a month or 2 ago and used it on a bookcase with quite a few different joining applications. I've got to tell you, this tool is the single most impressive and adaptable tool I've owned. It was fantastic and worth every cent. The DVD is clear and concise and the tool is great fun to use. Full marks to your company.
Great talking to you, look forward to hearing from you,
Regards,
Ross F.
Australia
Dear Jim,
Many thanks for your time and your personal attention to my concerns. When
I purchased your Dowelmax, I didn’t have a project, but it had such a good
review that I knew that I would have a need for it as my projects evolved.
My first need was for a quilt rack. Needed to dowel the top and bottom
pieces to the verticals. It’s a plan sold by Delta. No big deal for you
or anyone else that had made a dowel joint previously. So I took a couple
of pieces of scrap and made my first joint. Of course it was perfect and
I marveled at how fast and easy it was to get a perfect result. After one
more
"practice” joint I made the joints in the Maple wood quilt rack. I was
NOT disappointed. All eight (double dowel) joints were perfect in every
way!!! I am a Mechanical Engineer and not easily impressed, but the RESULTS
are impressive! Your device is beautifully simple and the results are simply
beautiful. Now that I have used it and understand why it works SO well,
I will use it where ever a doweled joint is needed. You have invented THE
best doweling tooling.
I’m just a retired old man that loves to work with wood. What I might say
matters little. An "expert” opinion will help spread the word about how
great this device is. Inexpensive? NO! Want perfect results? YES! Then
like every other tool, pay the bucks and get the BEST!
Best regards,
Warren G.
West Chester, PA
Dear Jim and Mike,
I have received and used the DowelMax jig I recently ordered and am very
impressed. Every thing went very smooth and you can feel the quality
of the jig as you use it. As I discussed with you before ordering,
I received a contract to build 6 interior 1 3/8” doors made of Poplar and
to be painted.
The design was specified to be plain styles and rails with grooved panels.
I have router bits to make doors, but they all mill a profile as well as
making the groove. Dowels seemed to be the best way to construct
these doors, but I tend to "over-build”, so I figured I needed a lot of
dowels to prevent failure! I ended up putting 5 in the top, 4 in
the lock, and 8 dowels in the 10” bottom rail. That made for 17 dowels
in each style and a real nightmare if things did not line up exactly!! THANKS
to the accuracy of the DowelMax, out of the 204 dowels involved, I had
ZERO problems with alignment. I used TiteBond II Extend glue, which
gave me 20 minutes open time and allowed the entire door to be assembled
in one session.
I began the layout by using the top of the style for the top rail, and
then measuring from the top of the style 40 ¼” to the top of the lock rail,
and 70” to the top of the bottom rail. This, of course, had to be
done with a really sharp pencil!!! I used a double row of dowels
and I designed the dowel placement so the indexing pin supplied with the
DowelMax could be used to move to the next set of holes in each rail. I
used 1/8” and ½” spacers to get the two rows.
I am posting the pictures I took during construction on my web site under
the section "Other”. Here is the link to the web page.
Franker Enterprises Photo Gallery
Thanks again for a superior product!
Terry Franker, Pres.
Subject: Dowelmax Jig
To whom it may concern,
I recently landed a job for a client in Pittsburgh of building two sets
of double entry doors out of mahogany. These are large, heavy doors measuring
7'5" x 23" each, with arched top, beveled glass windows. How to construct
them became a real challenge. Do I use my biscuit jointer (naw, too whimpy),
dowels (pain in the rump to line up accurately) or mortise and tenon. I
have a tenon jig and hollow chisel mortiser, but it seemed a slow, tedious
way to go. I did some research on door construction and dowels seemed to
be the choice by the "old timers" for the simple reason they produced a
strong secure joint. But I was leary about the inaccurate alignment problems
until I saw ads for Dowelmax in several magazines and looked over the web
page. All that I read seemed very promising so I bit the bullet and layed
out my $$$. I have never written a letter like this before but I have to
say, the Dowelmax is nothing short of amazing. What would have taken hours
of set-up and execution on two (three counting the tablesaw) machines was
accomplished in less than two with the Dowelmax. And my results were perfect.
I'm serious. I'm just blown away by the simplicity, accuracy and craftsmanship
that went into the design and manufacturing of this jig. My... biscuit
cutter is slated for eBay. Once I get payed for the doors, I'll probably
go ahead and buy the 1/4" drill guides. One thing I did do was to make
a 1/2" and 1/8" spacer out of aluminum which gave me more options for locating
the dowel positions. Worked great. Again, thank you for a high quality
tool. I can't wait to explore new ways to use it.
Sincerely, Jerry Heiser (a very surprised and EXTREMELY happy customer)
Morehead City, NC
"In my 40+ years of woodworking, I have bought just about every dowel
jig on the market, but was never satisfied with the results. Switched to
biscuits, and was not satisfied with them either. Read about your tool
in the BH & G Wood magazine and thought I would give dowels one more
try. Ordered it from you and received it within a week. Put it to work
the following day. The only thing I can say is, "where have you been all
these years of nothing but frustration”. I was absolutely amazed at the
ease in using the tool and how accurate it is. I am enjoying using dowels
in woodworking again. Thanks to the genius who invented this great tool."
John Correia, Fort Myers, Florida
Here is a comment from Ontario Master Craftsman, Hendrik Varju, who has a beautiful Web Site at www.passionforwood.com:
"It's truly unbelievable and will completely revolutionize the way I drill dowel holes...." "I was stunned by the quality of the materials and the precision of the design..." "I just couldn't believe the accuracy of the joints and how quickly I could make them..." "I bought the DOWELMAX a the show in Moncton just before Xmas. This thing
is better than perfect....it is the epitome of perfection. Or like my friend
says "it rules".
"I've been looking for a proper dowel jig ever since I started woodworking
20 years ago, but never bought one for dissatisfaction in what was available.
The moment I saw your display at the show, I knew I had found my dowel
jig. I was right; I am addicted to it.
I am a mech. eng. tech. by trade and a woodworker by hobby and I will tell
you that this tool is deceivingly simple, yet the eng. behind it is genius.
Thank for making the world a better place !!!"
Paul Bourdage,
New Brunswick
"I just finished building 19 cabinet doors, about half way through I discovered
that my biscuit joiner was too big for some of the stiles (used in the
drawer fronts). I purchased the Dowelmax to do this section of the project.
After the first door was complete there was no looking back! I wish I had
the Dowelmax from the beginning, talk about perfect joints! It looks like
my biscuit joiner has just been retired. Thank you for about the most perfect
jig I have ever used."
Yours
Daryl Brayman
Below are some comments taken from the Canadian Woodworking on-line wood forum in response to queries about Dowelmax:
...."Mike, for what it's worth, this tool is the "best" dowel jig I've
seen"....
...."It's one of my most prized possessions in the shop"....
...."As for accuracy, you should have no problems with dowels not lining
up. Every joint I've made with mine has lined up perfectly and goes together
with light pressure. It by far outperforms my biscuit joiner for accuracy
in lining up sheet goods such as table tops or cabinet carcasses. If you
get one you won't be disappointed"....
...."There's no question Dowelmax will do what you want it for. I am actually
restoring an antique mahogany dining table right now. Anyhow, I will be
drilling the holes for the alignment pins very soon. I will be using the
Dowelmax jig. The techniques I used before are very cumbersome"....
...."The engineer who invented the Dowelmax really thought this through
and knows about accuracy and tolerances".
