Shopsmith Forums

Looks like they reverse engineered the Dowelmax and dropped the price $100. It would be interesting to see a head to head review.

http://www.jessemdirect.com/Paralign_Do ... =223476454

tomsalwasser wrote:Looks like they reverse engineered the Dowelmax and dropped the price $100. It would be interesting to see a head to head review.

http://www.jessemdirect.com/Paralign_Dowelling_System_p/08300.htm?et_mid=524263&rid=223476454

I have never used the Dowelmax but this video clip sure makes the Jessem look like it would be a nice fixture to have if one does a lot of dowelling.

For the little bit of dowelling that I do, I find the Shopsmith works great.

Hey Dusty,

I agree, the Shopsmith is an excellent dowelling machine. The Dowelmax is even better due to it's accuracy, flexibility and ease of use. The only problem is the price, around $300. Dowelmax had no competition until the JessEm. Both Dowelmax and the JessEm are very different animals compared to the standard dowelling jigs we all know and love.

Best,
Tom

Heck, when I got a set of dowel centers many years ago I thought I was getting high-tech.

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I too will probably just stick with the Shopsmith...
I am a little surprised at how little I use my biscuit joiner. Just the nature of the type of work I do I guess (or of how little of actual woodworking time I am getting in I guess).
I am also surprised at how often I "do" use my little single pocket hole set. I love the clamps. I do expect to expand to one of the bigger sets (Maybe a good Santa Claus hint item).


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Don't throw those dowel centers out Francis, even if you do get a dowel system. They're still useful and necessary.

The Jessum Dowel Rig looks great. As a Dowlmax frequent user I plan to stick with it. Incidentally I paid no more for the Dowlmax than the Jessum is selling for. Fjimp

Same here Jim, but I'm not as good a shopper as you! I have never seen the Dowelmax on sale. Even so I feel it's worth $300. But if I didn't have a Dowelmax already I would seriously consider the JessEm for $200 instead. It's too new to know for sure, no reviews are out yet, but at first glance it looks good.

I agree with how promising it looks. Jim