Related Products
|
|
|
 |
- Overview
- More Info
- Reviews
Dowel joinery will never be the same! This portable, hand-held power tool works just like a biscuit joiner to cut perfectly spaced dowel holes for joinery, shelf pins, furniture repair, and more. Plus, with bits spaced exactly 32 mm apart, it’s especially suited for European cabinet applications. Drills two holes simultaneously up to 1-3/8" deep. Features a powerful 6.5 amp motor and a precision-adjustable rack-and-pinion fence.
|
Freud’s new doweling joiner unites both versatility and precision with a design that’s just as effective on the jobsite as it is in the woodshop. Drill precise rows of shelf-pins in seconds. Join cabinet face frames where biscuits would be be too large. With a tool like this, the possibilities are wide open.
Premium features of the Freud Doweling Joiner:
- Adjustable fence allows for precise setting at any joint angle.
- Rack-and-pinion adjustment for precise fence height setting.
- Adjustable indexing pins ensure even spacing of repetitive holes.
- Adjustable drilling depth accommodates various lumber sizes.
- 5 Year Limited Warranty.
Specifications:
- Accepts standard 10 mm shank boring bits.
- Work with bits from 3/16" to 1/2" diameter (5mm-12mm).
- Bits are 32mm (1-1/4") from center to center.
- 6.5 amp motor
|
| |
Customer Reviews and Photos for:
Freud Doweling Joiner
|
Average Rating:
(4.0)
(1 customer review)
Add your review...
|
|
|
1) Submitted by
Rob, from Atlanta, GA
on 1/29/2009
Customer Rating:
I will preface by saying I haven't had a chance to use this much yet, I've made a few sample joints just to get a feel for this thing- but I wanted to post some basic info because there's really not much out there for potential buyers.
You can do dowels for less, but I don't think you could do them easier or faster. I almost bought a biscuit joiner, but I'm not convinced they add much (if any) strength to a joint, I can break a biscuit easily in my hands. I've read some reports they may even weaken an edge joint by decreasing glue surface- but that's anecdotal.
Enter this thing. Solid oak dowels are much stronger than biscuits (usually some pressed or cheap light wood). That's why I went with this. The usability and quickness of a biscuit but stronger joints. This does cost more than a biscuit joiner though- for me it was worth it. I wouldn't buy it if I already had a biscuit cutter though.
My biggest concern was precision- can you repeatedly drill holes that will line up vertically and horizontally?- and the answer so far is yes, the machine seems very precise. I tested on some plywood, the holes lined up at the same ply every time, and the resulting joint was flush. The layout lines on the fence are easy to use, I use a 5mm pencil for most layouts, and this fits perfectly with the clear guides on the joiner. Instead of using an ink'd line, the clear plastic has a raised line that is clearly visible, but you can see your layout mark through the plastic. Very nice. There is one centered line, and one over each bit, in case you use one bit at a time for smaller joints.
As far as replacement bits, the website doesn't say specifically, but I think the replacement part is: BP63557R for the 1/4 bit. I wish the manual was a little more helpful, I will email freud to find out.
The joiner feels solid, the fence and plunge mechanism are all metal. The stops on the fence are dead on. I don't notice any slop in the plunge mechanism.
The plunge gauge is easy to zero out and set a depth. The fence turret adjustment seems smooth and parallel. There are presets for common thicknesses of wood.
The guide indexing pins are a good idea, but they are much smaller than the holes (1/8 roughly) and so they introduce some room for error (is that pin on the exact far end of the 1/4 hole?). It may work for shelf pin holes, where being off 1/64 won't matter, but for running a line of holes along a joint I don't think I trust them. My initial test showed the piece skewed a bit (about 1/64) based on the layout lines on the two pieces, too much for my tastes, I'll just stick with multiple layout lines. The pins are adjustable, and mabye mine need adjusting- if I can fix the error I will update my post. I used the setup out of the box. They do have indicator lines for the appropriate placement when you use bigger bits.
I tried two types of dowels, the traditional fluted dowels that come precut- I bought a bag of 25 at my home improvement store. I believe they are solid oak based on the grain, but not sure. I also bought a standard 1/4 oak dowel rod to try. The premade dowels fit easily and snug, but with just a little wiggle room. Enough to compensate for some user error maybe, but snug enough. The dowel rod is a very tight fit, but man, what a strong joint. I face jointed two pieces of plywood and used 4 dowels (two layout lines) over a 10" joint, and without glue I couldn't break the joint. It opened up a bit, but I couldn't break the 4 dowels. That was with 1 1/4" dowels.
It comes with a 5 year warranty, and feels like it will last that long. The bits are carbide tipped and should last a long time.
For me it's a keeper. Minus a point for the price, it is almost $100 more than a comparable biscuit joiner.
|
Home  Power Tools and Shop Accessories More Power Tools and Accessories Biscuit joiners and Accessories Freud Doweling Joiner
|
|
CART
