Replies

1. 
   JohnH | May 15, 2008 04:58pm | #1

   I've used Miller dowels on a bunch of projects. IMHO they are excellent replacements for regular dowels. They grip strongly and the heads finish nicely. For securing corner joints, the stepped taper lessens the risk of the dowel punching through an face.

1. 
   woodchuckwood | May 15, 2008 08:29pm | #4

   Man oh man are they great!!  I just used them (walnut dowels) to attach the top of my curly maple coffee table.  Because they are tapered they align themselves.  rockler sells them.   the small ones are dinky.  It is hard to get a feel for the size unless you go to the company web site http://millerdowel.com/news/magstories.html and look at the sizes there.  So I first bought the mini X and they are too small for 95% of uses.  I then bought the 2X kit, and because of the taper you can basically pick the size diameter of dowel you visually see by just drilling that far down.  If I had it to do over I would only by the 2X kit. 

   For my coffee table I put in three dowels for each table top support I went the depth of the bit and the visible diameter is something like 3/8" for the left and right dowel and the middle one I went less and it is about 1/4".  The top looks like the dots on a bowling alley.

   Definatley worth the money.

1. 
   bigfootnampa | May 16, 2008 02:41am | #5

   Your mini X set will make great drawer box joins!  I love these things!

1. 
   aranman | May 16, 2008 08:41am | #9

   You guys are great! I am convinced that these Miller Dowels are as good as they say they are. Now I feel confident in giving them a try. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to drop a note and tell me of your experience with the dowels, Knots is a great source for information.

2. 
   troys | May 15, 2008 08:22pm | #2

   I have used them, they work great for projects where the dowel does not go all the way through the joint. If you are doing something like a bridle joint where the hole goes through both sides of the wood the bit tends to self feed and cause a bit (pardon the pun) of tear-out. If you are using it in this kind of joint you can minimize this by first drilling a shallow starter hole with a brad point bit with thats the same size as the largest part of the miller dowel bit. Anyway good luck and have fun.

   Troy

3. 
   flairwoodworks | May 15, 2008 08:23pm | #3

   They are a great joining device.  I'd consider it akin to an easy M&T, though not quite as strong and not blind.  It's nice that the holes in both parts are cut simultaneously, which eliminates any marking error, assuming that the parts are held together properly.  The drill bit makes a surprisingly clean hole which the "plug" part of the dowel fills.  Highly recommended.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com

    - Success is not the key to happines.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

4. 
   BruceS | May 16, 2008 02:57am | #6

   As the others have said. Great!   I used them on a Mission style bed for my son and life was easy!

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

5. 
   philjohnwilliams | May 16, 2008 05:41am | #7

   Here is another vote for the Miller Dowel. They are fast, easy and surprisingly strong. 

   -pjw

1. 
   dovetail59 | May 16, 2008 05:53am | #8

   Hello , great to work with easy to install , just used them on a toybox . I would recommend them too . I used the 1X size , and have the mini's for some display boxes coming up . Gary

6. 
   Napie | May 16, 2008 09:14pm | #10

   I also love them for various jigs; you never have to worry about hitting a screw with a $120 saw blade.

1. 
   aranman | May 16, 2008 09:39pm | #11

   Now that is a great use for wooden dowels. These little guys are going to be very useful, thanks for the tip.