Dowel connection: do it yourself

Length splicing

This type of joining of wooden parts has some nuances. At its core, this is the elongation of elements in the horizontal direction. Splicing can be:

Butt-end - the ends are cut at right angles and aligned with each other. A bracket is hammered into both beams (logs).
Oblique butt - the cuts are made at an angle, and the ends are fastened with a pin or nail.
End butt with ridge.
Direct overlay - the length of the cutting is 1.5-2 times greater than the thickness of the timber (log).
Oblique trim - the ends are cut at an angle and secured with bolts.
Overlay with an oblique cut - at the ends of the parts, end ridges are made, having a width and length of one third of the thickness of the beam.

What is

Before you find out the installation details, you will need information about what a dowel is. This is the name for fasteners that allow you to securely fix different parts of furniture. It looks like a small cylindrical rod with rounded ends. The dowel does not complicate the disassembly of objects, but at the same time can withstand even heavy loads. Any material can be used for its manufacture: plastic, metal, wood. For a tighter fit, its surface should be corrugated (straight, helical, transverse).

The optimal circumference of the furniture dowel would be equal to no more than a third of the wall thickness; this will make the assembly reliable and maximally resistant to high loads. The length is selected individually, taking into account the base. Such parts are used both in the production of factory furniture and in self-assembly of the structure.

Installation and removal methods

Furniture dowels make it possible to significantly increase the strength of connections. But this is not as simple a method as it might seem at first: the connection cannot be secured if any hole is displaced. Depending on the size of the offset, the result will be unsatisfactory.

As a rule, tabletops on dining tables and desks are secured with a dowel. Put them in working position like this:

The parts are first marked on the end side, and then holes are drilled to the required depth. The same holes are made in the countertops. They must match;
A cylindrical fastener is installed in the end hole, the upper end protrudes at a distance equal to the depth of the hole in the covering part;
To strengthen the dowel in the hole, it is generously lubricated with glue, fixing it in the desired position. Sometimes glue is poured into the holes, where the fastener is then inserted - this will completely cover its ribbed surface with glue, improving the adhesion strength of the elements;
The second part of the design is superimposed on the installed dowel.

Drilling the material

Hammering the dowel

Connect with glue

The work is ready.
There are 3 main problems in assembling furniture using dowels:

It is possible to assemble an edge-to-edge connection, but in this case, the planes of the structural parts do not coincide. Solution: The drill guide holes were not aligned with the center edges of the parts. The device must be constantly aligned with the reference planes of the two parts being fastened. Even in the absence of a central location of holes in the connection, no shifts or sagging are formed;
Holes in one part do not line up with another. Solution: to align the holes, use special markers designed specifically for connections. Initially, holes are made in one part with a drill. A marker is then inserted into each hole and the two pieces are pressed together as they should be when assembled. This way, the second part will have marks with markers in the places where you should drill;
The holes are made in the right places, but the installation of the dowels is disrupted: the fasteners do not fit through or, on the contrary, fall out. Solution: It is important to make sure that the diameter of the fasteners matches the diameter of the holes. Factory fasteners are mass produced and may have a diameter slightly larger or smaller than stated. In addition, wood can swell or shrink with changes in humidity. When the diameter is verified and it is identical, then the problem is the wear of the drilling jig and, as a consequence, the deviation of the drill. This leads to deformation. It is enough to change the bushings or purchase a new device.

To correctly assemble furniture parts onto a dowel, you will need to learn three basic rules:

To mark, use a sharp pencil or knife. A pencil with a thick lead will not make marks accurately;
When drilling holes, you need to use drills with a central point. Twist drills with conical sharpening can deviate to the sides during work, setting the wrong direction;
To ensure uniform hole depths, a locking ring is placed on the drill and firmly fixed. The depth of the hole is made 2 - 3 mm greater than the length of the dowel.

We mark with a pencil

Use center point drills

Use a retaining ring
You can make cylindrical mounts yourself. Here is a short instruction on how to make dowels: To do this, take birch logs and split them into many pieces - you get square blanks. Next, they need to be trimmed by hand or on a lathe to give them a cylindrical shape and the required diameter. Fasteners can also be made using a circular saw.

It happens that the dowel breaks off and one half remains in the hole. The first thing you want to do is take a drill and drill out the fragment. This is incorrect, since the hole will be larger, and choosing a new mount will be more difficult.

The correct solution is to take a drill of a smaller diameter and drill in the center of the fragment. Then, using a screwdriver, chisel or chisel, break up the remaining debris and remove it from the hole. If difficulties arise, you can use photo instructions - there are a lot of them on the Internet.

So, when used correctly, a furniture dowel is a universal fastening that guarantees reliability. It is used for assembling different types of furniture in combination with other types of fasteners.

Width joining

Used to increase the width of the product

When using bonding methods, it is important to pay attention to the location of the tree’s annual rings. It is important to alternate the boards depending on their direction. The payment options are:

The payment options are:

Butt-to-end - parts need to be trimmed and jointed using a square.
In tongue and groove - the height and width of the ridge is equal to 1/3 of the thickness of the board.
Using a hacksaw - the edges need to be cut at an acute angle to the wide plane of the board.
With a comb with a height of 1/3 to half of the board.
A quarter with a ledge equal to half the thickness of the board.
In a tongue and groove with slats - in each board, select grooves into which you need to insert a rail that is twice as wide as the depth of the groove.

Types of connection

When connecting wooden parts, you need to remember an important point - a thin part is always attached to a thick one, but not vice versa.

According to the relative arrangement of the elements, the following methods of connecting wooden parts are distinguished:

extension - increasing the height of a part;
splicing - elongation of the workpiece;
consolidation—increasing the element’s width;
knitting - joining at an angle.

The most commonly used methods for joining wooden parts in furniture making are:

gluing;
"dovetail";
end-to-end;
grooved;
overlap;
deaf on spikes;
through tenon.

Let's look at the technologies of some connections in more detail.

Varieties

In fact, a dowel is a small spike - it is a hidden type of furniture fastener. In appearance, it resembles a cylinder-shaped rod, with slightly rounded or simply truncated ends on both sides. Sometimes, to assemble furniture on dowels, not only wooden elements are used, but also plastic ones. They have slightly different purposes:

Wooden ones are needed for positioning and connecting furniture parts made of MDF, chipboard, plywood, and solid wood;
Plastic ones mainly connect parts when installing prefabricated panel furniture.

Wooden

Plastic
There are also metal products. They have improved strength characteristics; they are also called dowels or dowels. But the most commonly used are wooden dowels measuring 30 by 8, that is, the length is 30 mm and the diameter is 8 mm. There is also a smaller diameter - 6 mm. You can purchase different types in construction stores or markets. If you wish, you can make dowels yourself.

There are different grooves on wooden dowels:

Straight vertical;
Helical – located at a slight angle to the vertical axis;
Complex ones - there are transverse and longitudinal recesses - they also allow you to make the adhesive joint stronger;
Horizontal – help to make the adhesive joint as strong as possible;
Smooth - do not have corrugation.

Corrugation helps air pass during the installation of dowels, improving the adhesion of the glue with the “glue” method of connecting parts.

Vertical straight lines

Complex

Smooth

Box connections

Box joinery joins the corner joint category. They are widely used in the production of furniture and carpentry. Such connections can be made using straight or oblique tenons. Their number depends on the width and thickness of the parts (boards). A spike is made at both ends of the parts being connected. The part that has an eye on the edge has one more protrusion.

Box-type connections can be blind, through, flush or semi-flush. The choice depends on the application of the products. Through joints are used for parts that are located inside the workpiece, as well as on the front sides if subsequent coating of the surfaces with plywood is planned.

If the part is open only on one side, the workpieces are connected in a semi-flush manner. If they are open on all sides, the hidden technique is used. Insert tenons can be used. But this type of joint is the least durable.

Box junctions are created using straight through tenons and grooves with a ridge. They can be rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal in shape. Grooves are used if it is undesirable to have protruding ends on the outer edge.

Spikes for fixing timber: which ones to choose and why?

The most popular are dowels made from hard wood. The most durable options are spikes made of oak or birch. It is not possible to deform, bend, or break them. However, there is one condition. They must be properly secured. What are their shape and sizes? The optimal solution is details with rounded contours. Their length should not exceed 25 mm. Wooden dowels must be smooth and even not only at the point of installation, but over the entire surface. It is these nails that guarantee the longest possible service life.

Installing dowels in timber is a mandatory rule for timber and log structures. Birch thorns are the most common option. Such dowels cannot become an analogue of self-tapping screws or primitive nails. If they are used, it is impossible to guarantee the stability and reliability of the structure. It is also worth abandoning the use of reinforcement. Metal versions can lead to a number of negative consequences, which is explained by the direct interaction of materials with different thermal conductivity parameters. What can the use of metal dowels lead to? It could be:

condensation formation;
coating the surface of the spikes with rust;
rotting of the entire layer of wood.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any other fastening element, the dowel has a number of positive aspects, as well as disadvantages.

Advantages:

The spike provides reliable grip and prevents the crown from sagging;
Provides long-term reliability under bending loads, which nails and bolts cannot boast of;
Promotes uniform shrinkage of the house. The fastening element moves freely along a vertical plane, preventing horizontal deformations;
The wooden product is not subject to the formation of moisture and corrosion, excluding the process of rotting;
Extremely cheap. Even buying ready-made dowels won’t put a big dent in your pocket, allowing you to minimize your budget.

But there are also disadvantages:

Difficult to install. Absolute vertical position, ideal selection of diameter, implies the presence of decent construction skills;
Serious quality requirements. The presence of knots or heterogeneity of the material can lead to disastrous consequences;
Excessive force when driving often leads to cracks in the timber. After which it needs to be changed.

Hole depth and width

When assembling furniture, confirmat size 6.4*50 is usually used. Because the thread diameter is 6.4 mm, and the diameter of the confirmation body is 4.4 mm, then for high-quality fastening of parts, the hole diameter must be in the range of 4.5-5 mm and a depth of at least 50 mm.

If the thickness of the hole is greater than the specified one, the confirmat will not hold the parts well; if it is less, its thickness can tear the chipboard.

For drilling, use a confirmat drill with a diameter of 4.5 mm, which is equipped with an additional head for drilling an enlarged hole for the neck of the confirmat, which also makes a countersink for its head.

Of course, you can use a regular drill with a diameter of 5 mm, but for high-quality fastening in the hole you will additionally need to make space for the neck of the confirmat and its head.

Benefits of use

Essentially, such a jig acts as a template for making holes so that they are made as accurately as possible. They can be used for those holes whose axis is perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece, as well as for working at an angle.

This tool is an excellent alternative to sketches and manual measurements. You can place the drill strictly at the desired angle in relation to the workpiece and will not allow any deviation. The result will be especially noticeable when it comes to making deep holes.

If you use such a high-quality device for working with chipboard, then it should have the following characteristics:

facilitate quick assembly of furniture without the need to use complex tools;
make it possible to make several holes simultaneously without manual marking;
significantly improve the quality of work with the drill.

Conductors are made from different materials; there are models based on plastic or organic glass. However, the best option is considered to be steel, which has such advantages as:

minimal likelihood of deformation;
the drill is directed as clearly as possible;
no heating during operation.

Very often, overhead models based on lightweight materials that are easy to manipulate are used as furniture jigs. Many people use factory or homemade tools.

And the most qualified and experienced craftsmen no longer use a jig, since they can easily make a hole in structures on their own as accurately as possible. But not everyone can do this.

The key advantage of such a device is that the work can be performed as accurately and efficiently as possible, even by a person who does not have the proper experience. You don't have to do markings and complex preliminary calculations. You will save a lot of time and produce furniture much faster.

The use of dowels in the construction of houses and baths

Wooden dowels are used in the construction of various structures with log or timber walls. Their use is approved by the standards of construction organizations and projects of wooden houses. In practice, the use of birch tenons provides a perfect connection to wooden substrates. It is distinguished by the mobility of the vertical level. However, this does not prevent the wood from naturally shrinking.

In the process of building wooden houses, they often resort to making dowels for timber with their own hands.

The build quality and reliability of the walls will be at the highest level and will please anyone.

So, although making dowels yourself seems at first glance to be something complicated and time-consuming, in fact it is a primitive task

It is important to be clear, planned and follow instructions.

The manufacture or restoration of household utensils, furniture and other items made of wood will require the use of various types of basic and auxiliary tools. But not all of them may be at hand, what should you do in this case, run to the store? Not at all necessary. Many craftsmen have long been making the tools they need for their work, with their own hands, from scrap materials, thus saving money.

Purpose and features of dowels

Wooden dowels are specially designed for pinning log walls. They prevent such natural processes in wood as drying out, as a result of which the wood changes its original properties and becomes deformed.

The use of such bolts will help to avoid the process of displacement of logs in the wall. Their correct installation will provide the structure with stability; the bars will be positioned as they were in the initial position.

The most popular are dowels made from hardwood. Birch or oak dowels cannot be broken if they are installed correctly. Most often they are given a rounded shape and a size corresponding to 24-25 mm. Wooden nails should be even and smooth along their entire length.

Pins are a material that helps hold a wall in a certain position. Dowels are used without fail, regardless of whether the building is log or timber. The most widespread are birch thorns.

These wooden bolts cannot be replaced with other components such as nails or screws, the use of which will only worsen the situation. In addition, you should not use pins on a metal base, which are most often reinforcement. As a result, it is possible to observe the interaction of materials with different degrees of thermal conductivity.

As a result, condensation may appear on the inner surface of the beam, and this is completely unnecessary. In this case, the reinforcement will begin to rust and the wood will rot.

Basic methods of connecting timber during installation

At the connection point, you need to choose a specific method that guarantees optimal strength and tightness of the joint. Corner connections can be made:

with ends protruding beyond the main dimensions;
without protrusions;
butt laying, when the beams do not overlap each other;
T-shaped connection for walls inside the building.

Figure 2. Construction of a rectangular root tenon.

The technology of the method with a remainder provides better quality corner joints, but requires more material consumption. Each beam produces from 0.4 to 0.6 meters of wasted length. With a height of 15 crowns, the total unused length will be from 20 to 36 m. With a beam length of 4 m, this will amount to from 5 to 9 additional products. You can see the corner connection with protruding parts in Fig. 1a.

The first crown in a building is usually placed in a joint with a key groove with a specific name for the joint - “oblo”. This method is used for any method of laying material, with or without protrusions. The sampling is performed at half the thickness of the product. The articulation of the corners of the house without protrusions can be seen in Fig. 1b. To prevent displacement in the main planes, subsequent crowns must be joined using the “root tenons” type with the installation of dowels. The design of a rectangular main tenon is shown in Fig. 2.

The dowel is a round wooden block 25 cm long and about 30 mm thick. In the beam laid on the cushioning material, you need to drill a hole with a depth exceeding the length of the dowel by 20-40 mm, and hammer the part into it.

Butt jointing corners is the easiest way. The quality of such joints is extremely low; creating a warm corner in this way is unrealistic. The timber is fastened with such joining using metal brackets with spikes, nailed down. Laying timber end-to-end is shown in Fig. 1st century How to fasten a beam with a metal bracket can be seen in Fig. 1e.

Figure 3. Dovetail.

The T-shaped connection of capital and internal partitions has several options:

joint using a key groove;
“groove-tenon” joint in the form of a symmetrical trapezoid;
“groove-tenon” joint in the form of an asymmetrical trapezoid with a right angle;
use of a rectangular mortise-tenon joint.

Spikes in the form of trapezoids are designed to maintain the connection during loosening of the structure and efforts aimed at pulling apart in different directions. The design of such joints is complex, but also more reliable. Because of its appearance, the connection is called “dovetail”. The structure of such a joint can be seen in Fig. 3. Making a dovetail requires care and patience in fitting the surfaces.

Many craftsmen prefer to fasten walls using rectangular tenons. Often, T-shaped joints are fastened with special brackets, long bolts with large diameter washers or nails. An example of a right-angle tenon connection is shown in Fig. 1 year

How else to decorate such connections

Corner trims themselves and varnishes allow you to combine different types of wood, and you will be able to create dozens of options, but your creative imagination should not be limited only to them. By adding dowels or plugs to the overlays, you can get a more interesting decorative effect. First, mark on the trim the places where the plugs will be glued (photo D). We positioned the 10mm plugs 13mm from the long side of the trim and 25mm apart. Make stoppers from the same type of wood as the frame, or choose a third type that contrasts with the trim.

These plugs pass through the overlay into the frame without coming out on the other side. The direction of the fibers in the plugs should be the same as in the overlays to reduce stress in the parts when changing sizes due to humidity fluctuations. Glue the plugs into the holes, leaving a small allowance above the surface. After the glue has dried, remove the allowance using a fine-toothed hacksaw (photo E). Then sand the plugs flush with the surface of the frame.

Increase in height

From the name it is clear that the essence is to lengthen the beams or logs in the vertical direction. The axes of the elements are on the same vertical line. Types of extensions are:

End-to-end extension. To absorb random loads, a barbed pin is inserted on the sides.
Extension with one or two spikes. The width and height of one tenon must be at least one third of the thickness of the timber. The depth of the nest is slightly greater than the height of the thorn.
Half-tree extension. The ends of both logs need to be cut to half their thickness by 3-3.5 diameters in length.
Tongue building. In one beam you need to cut a fork into which you need to insert the correspondingly cut end of another piece. The connection itself must be wrapped in tin.

Inset

A mortise, or notch, is a corner or middle connection with which you can securely fasten two boards or wooden beams together. One part is attached end-to-end to the other. The insertion technique is based on a butt connection. Make a cutout in the plastic for the end and then proceed to the main part of the work.

PHOTO: YouTube.com This fastening method is most often used in box or frame connections, for example when assembling a cabinet or frame for building a house

The main types of connections using notches are T-notches, corner in the dark or corner in the rebate. Each of these connection methods has its own characteristics. If you decide to make a corner fold, you need to make a larger recess ─ two-thirds of the workpiece.

Variations on a theme

Feel free to experiment with different combinations of wood species for frames, overlays and decorative stoppers. Or try some of the examples shown here.

A. Leave a spacer about 12 mm wide between the cuts. Then cut the jumper using a band saw or by hand.

B. These overlays are cut to a thickness that is 0.5 mm greater than the depth of the folds at the corners of the frame.

C.Remove excess trim material with a band saw and then sand the face and edges using an orbital sander.

D. Place the plugs at equal distances from the joint line of the frame parts. The size and location of the plugs must match the frame and overlays.

E. Using a fine-toothed flexible-blade hacksaw for this operation, guide it parallel to the grain of the lining to avoid leaving rough scratches.

In preparing the article, materials from the wonderful publication for woodworkers WooDMaster were used

How to join boards with glue

A very popular method of joining boards and bars is longitudinal and transverse gluing. When connecting boards with the wide side, the end can be smooth, although in most cases a tongue-and-groove profile is used. It is very important to tightly fit the parts so that the glue layer is as thin as possible, this is the only way to achieve maximum strength. Sometimes a small amount of cotton fiber is applied to the end, lubricated with glue, this improves the quality of the coupling.

The boards can also be joined in profile, but this will require wedge-shaped gear cutting of both ends with the teeth offset to the floor for different parts. At home, this operation can be performed using a hand router.

To glue the parts together, casein glue or high concentration PVA is used; to give strength, sifted wood flour is added to the adhesive. The surfaces are covered with glue and kept in air for 3–5 minutes, after which they are placed under pressure or squeezed with clamps. This connection is stronger than the wood itself and never breaks along the joint.

Making a tap for wood carving with your own hands

To cut carvings in wood, you may need a wood tap; this tool will most likely not be cheap, and it can be quite difficult to find. But don’t be upset, because such a part is quite easy to make yourself. To do this you will need:

angle grinding machine;
sharpening machine;
drill;
Next, you need to select a bolt or screw that will have the required thread.

When using a bolt, first cut off the hex head, then use a sharpening machine to make a small part for entry, this is done by rotating it by hand or by securing the end in a drill. Next, you will need to grind out 3-4 grooves and clean the threads from any debris that got into it during grinding; this can be done with a nut.

Furniture dowels in factory designs

Factory furniture is a vivid example of the correct and effective use of dowels in connecting parts. It is in the “factory” that the dowel will fit tightly into its hole and, even without glue, will ensure a reliable connection of the parts. This is what connections involving dowels in factory furniture look like:

As you can see, factory furniture does not use connecting parts exclusively using dowels. Here the dowel is paired with a minifix. Even in factory furniture, dowels are used in conjunction with confirmations and other connecting fittings. This is exactly how dismountable furniture connections should be made. The dowel is not “set” on the glue, but simply driven into the hole drilled for it. This ensures the strength and rigidity of the structure. And the confirmat or minifix serves as a screed.

That is why the buyer of factory furniture can easily disassemble his structure and, if necessary, transport it to any place.

Why don't garage workers make such connections? And they can't do that. To ensure accurate drilling of holes in parts, industrial drilling machines are needed, which garage workers do not have. But with a hand drill, alas, you can’t drill like that. That is why garage workers simply do not have the moral right to put dowels where they can put a minifix or a furniture corner. Alas, some “craftsmen” continue to make complete “shkanto-slag” instead of furniture in their garages. We hope that the time will come when the defectors will curtail their work, and only conscientious furniture makers who, first of all, think about their clients, will remain on the market.

DIY engraving machine (matte)

This equipment is used not only by professionals, but also by home craftsmen. Despite the fact that you can easily buy it in a store, some people prefer to make it themselves. It is quite simple to make such a device, but despite its simplicity, it also successfully performs its functions as those manufactured at the factory. So, an engraver is needed:

for milling surfaces (flat and shaped), as well as grooves and holes of various configurations;
drilling and boring holes;
for cutting sheets;
cleaning from corrosion and other contaminants;
grinding and polishing of parts;
and of course for applying images and inscriptions on surfaces.

The reliability of a homemade engraver will depend on what materials were used. In order to make the device, you will need:

flexible shaft or drive;
a nozzle for it in order to fix the instrument (you can use it from a drill or make it yourself);
a tube with a freely rotating cartridge consisting of two halves fastened with a screw is inserted into the hole of the nozzle;
a tool is inserted into the chuck, the shank of which should have a diameter of 2 to 5 mm, and if the parts are not homemade, then one is selected that is suitable in diameter.

Attention: as an electric motor, use any motor operating from a 220 volt network, but the most suitable is considered to be one from a sewing machine, since it has a built-in rheostat that allows you to change the speed mode of the machine.

How to choose the right connection

Splicing is carried out during the construction of load-bearing walls, the construction of interior partitions, the arrangement of the rafter system, and the floor. The type of joining used should be selected depending on the type of load:

compression, it is important to perform it so that the ends touch in as large areas as possible; stretching, a lock connection must be performed; bending, joint is performed at an angle.

For different types, the ends of the parts are cut in a certain way. When joining, jute insulation is placed in the lock. For lengthening, various types of connections are used.

When joining wood using the tenon and dowel method, it is possible to create a durable structure with the required rigidity. It is necessary to make high quality keys. Interlocking joints are used to join lumber from which load-bearing walls will be built.

Wood floor splicing

Is the most basic solution. The ends of the joined elements are cut at right angles, half the thickness of the wooden part. The parts are connected by folding one end to the other. The tightness of the joint is ensured by insulation (jute tape is laid). In construction, the strength of the connection is imparted by installing wooden dowels. Additionally, the knot can be secured with screws.

Connection to root tenon

Scheme for connecting timber to a main tenon

This connection option is somewhat more difficult to complete. A tenon is cut from the end of one of the parts (the size of 1/3 of the section), and a corresponding groove is made on the second (reminiscent of a trapezoid). This labor-intensive connection requires special precision (an angle of 45° is maintained). The corners of the log house are joined in a similar way.

Additionally, the connection is strengthened with dowels. If the elements are joined in this way, the beams do not move horizontally.

Connection in an oblique lock

Splicing timber into an oblique lock

It is most suitable if the node will experience bending load. This is a rather complex type of joining, but in terms of strength such a joint exceeds many. At the ends, an oblique tenon with a groove (with bends) is cut out to the appropriate dimensions. The two parts folded together form a lock. The joint is secured with two dowels.

Splicing by application

Splicing timber into a rim lock

It is a rather complex type of joining. The lock is cut out in two pieces of wood. This is how the two links of the log house are connected to each other. The beam is folded at the ends and spliced with a construction bracket. The dowels are installed in the bottom row.

Connecting beams with dowels

Connecting timber along the length with dowels

It is also an effective way to splice a crown. Grooves are created at the two ends, and after laying, a wooden dowel is driven in. The joining itself can be done in half a tree (dowels must first be made and holes with a smaller diameter must be drilled). The cutting depth should be 2 cm.

If splicing is performed in this way, then it is a very durable method of joining in the construction of buildings. Grooves are cut out in two parts. The ends are folded, a key is installed in the groove (a wooden insert, a wedge, for example, made of aspen, can be made of metal). Its shape may vary (prismatic, rectangular). It tightly holds the two parts together.

All methods of splicing, both the simplest and the more complex, require fairly precise cuts on the timber, thereby ensuring a strong connection.

DIY jig for drilling holes

As already mentioned, depending on the scope of use and design, you can make some options yourself, thanks to which you will save a significant amount.

Before work, find the required drawing of the device and make everything strictly according to it.

Tools required for work:

welding machine;
Bulgarian;
drill;
locksmith supplies.

To make the simplest version of the conductor with your own hands, we perform the following steps:

take reinforcement measuring 10 by 10 mm with a square cross-section;
cut a piece of the required length and sand it with sandpaper;
make markings for the template holes. In this case, it is not allowed for the center to approach the edge by more than 8 mm, this is almost half the thickness of the chipboard sheet. Also, according to the standards, a distance of 32 mm must be maintained between centers;
after marking the centers, make holes in them 5 mm in diameter;
to make an emphasis, take a metal plate 2.5 mm wide and 1 mm thick. Bend it at an angle of 90 degrees, and then, together with a piece of prepared reinforcement and fastening in a clamp, make a place for the thread;
cut the thread and connect the two parts into one structure. The device is ready.

As you can see, such a device is very simple to make yourself, but it will greatly simplify your work if you are making furniture. If you are doing this exclusively as an amateur, then this option will be sufficient. If you can’t do it yourself, buy a ready-made option, perhaps the simplest and most inexpensive.

But professional equipment will cost much more; it makes sense to purchase it even when we are talking about at least small-scale mass production. But with its help you can easily and quickly connect pieces of furniture or repair it.

So, you have learned what a hole jig is and how it helps in furniture production. This device can be purchased ready-made or made by yourself.

Have you ever seen furniture assembled as if it had no fasteners at all?

Any furniture is assembled using fasteners. It’s just that one fastener is visible, for example, from the outside, and the other is not.

As fasteners, there can be confirmations, minifixes, corners. All of the above fasteners are visible, if not from the outside of the parts, then from the inside.

But there are fasteners, thanks to which the part is attached at all, without visible signs of fastening.

This fastener is called a dowel.

A dowel is a wooden cylinder, the dimensions of which are usually 35x8 mm (length - 35mm, diameter - 8mm).

The essence of fastening on it is that coaxial holes are made in two joining parts into which the dowel itself is inserted. It turns out that two parts are attached with their two coaxial holes to this fastener.

Usually, when fastening, the dowel is “driven” into the holes of the parts using PVA glue, so the connection is very strong.

Such fasteners are widely used when working with wood, but they are also used in the manufacture of cabinet furniture.

Despite all the advantages (visual absence of the fastening itself, fairly high strength of the connection), the dowel connection also has its disadvantages.

And its disadvantages are the following:

Such a mount can no longer be disassembled (for example, for repairs). That is, it is done once.
For such fastenings, you need to accurately make holes for them. Otherwise, the parts will not fit relative to each other, and, of course, there will be no possibility of adjusting them.

This is why such connections are almost never made manually.

For these purposes, special devices are always used - conductors.

Conductors can be homemade (low quality) or factory-made (usually imported), the quality of which is much higher.

The figure below shows probably the simplest conductor for the connection we are considering.

These are specially made “hairpins” that have a diameter almost equal to the diameter of the dowel.

They are simply inserted into holes for dowels drilled at the ends of the joining parts. Then, the part with these pins is simply placed in its intended place and pressed. “Marks” from the needles remain on the second part.

Holes are made using these marks.

The main thing is that the holes in the ends of the parts (into which these “clips” are inserted) should be made along the central axis of the ends themselves.

The cost of the dowels themselves is relatively low, therefore, if you have a good jig, they can be successfully used when connecting parts whose outer surfaces must be “clean”.

Application

These products have been used for a long time and are widely used in metalworking. Thus, many machines are equipped with conductors. The need for templates for dowels in the woodworking industry is due to the prevalence of closed furniture joints. In this industry, the devices in question are used both in mass production and during assembly. In the latter case, furniture jigs are used to drill holes for dowels.

In addition to the above-mentioned areas, such devices are in demand in construction, mechanical engineering, and household work.

The scope of application is determined by the type of conductor. Thus, overhead devices are used for processing flat parts, chipboard and MDF boards. Corner ones are applicable both for furniture and for chipboard and MDF boards. Rotary products are designed for making holes in cylindrical parts. Universal models are suitable for small-scale furniture production. Tilting options are designed for simultaneous processing in several planes. Clip-on and sliding jigs are most suitable for home use. In addition, the latter are incompatible with single-spindle machines.

Rigid models are designed for making holes in objects with an uneven surface, such as pipes. In this case, they are secured using a clamp, but this method is not suitable for furniture, since deformation of the surface is possible.

The use of conductors simplifies and speeds up the work due to the fact that it eliminates the need for manual measurements and calculations.

Features of application in the furniture industry

Conductors and templates are needed when assembling furniture. These things will prevent you from having a common problem that occurs during drilling—the drill hitting the part at the wrong angle. Correcting such an error will take an extremely long time, in some cases it will even be impossible.

A jig for making holes will not only allow you to correctly orient the working tool, but will also prevent it from straying from the desired trajectory.

In the furniture industry, jigs and templates are used in the following cases:

in mass production;
when assembling structures, when it is necessary to make holes for fasteners in the parts being connected. In this case, a jig for drilling holes for dowels or confirmat is suitable;
a jig for drilling holes at an angle is used both in such cases and when working with thin boards, for example, MDF or chipboard.

When using such a device, the assembly process will be much easier and faster; you will be able to make the necessary holes regardless of how far they should be located from the edge of the part and how wide it is.

When assembling furniture yourself, you often have to connect parts end-to-end using dowels. Holes for dowels are best made using a special jig. The peculiarity of dowels is that despite the fact that such fasteners, although outdated, are still relevant in furniture production.

The difficulty in their use lies in the fact that the axes of the holes that are made in the parts when connecting must have a right angle with each other. Accordingly, they must be placed strictly perpendicular to each other. It is difficult to do this without a special device. Therefore, if you want to achieve high quality performance, it is recommended to buy a dowel jig.

How it's done

Before you start working with the frames, make a simple sled device from slats with a cross-section of 19x25 mm and a piece of MDF board or birch plywood.

Then you will need already glued frames and some test miter joints on which you can practice. To make overlays for frames with a part width of 50 mm, spread cuttings measuring about 120x200 mm across the thickness to obtain thin pieces at least 50 mm wide. The scraps can be from a single board or glued together from different types of wood. Raise the disk to a height of 50 mm and adjust the longitudinal (parallel) stop so that the distance from the cut to the outer edge of the trim is slightly greater than the depth of the future folds at the corners of the frame. For safety and better control when cutting short pieces, use a comb and pusher. Turn the scrap over and make a second cut, leaving a spacer of about 12mm in the middle so that the trim blank remains on the scrap (Photo A). Then separate this workpiece using a band saw or hacksaw.

Link on topic: Veneer finishing - veneering: technology, instructions for surface production