Dowel centers wasted my money for a year, drill guide fixed it

About 14 months ago I bought a set of dowel centers for alignment work on cabinet sides. I kept missing the center marks by a hair and ruining panels, so I stopped using them entirely. Last week my helper brought in a self-centering drill guide from his old shop and it lined up perfectly on the first try. That was around $45 down the drain on the centers, plus maybe two sheets of plywood I scrapped. Has anyone else had better luck with those cheap metal guides or is it just me?

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max_schmidt7712d ago

I saw a woodworking forum thread where a guy said the trick is to always test the centers on scrap first, but that never worked for me either. The self-centering guide just takes the guesswork out, especially when you're dealing with edge grain that loves to deflect a punch. Good to hear I'm not the only one who burned money on those little brass pins.