5-Dowel Template

thingiverse

This is a guide to help you connect two pieces of wood with 3/8 inch dowels. When you use the entire template, the joint will have five dowels and three screws, which will be extremely strong. You don't need a drill press; a power drill and a 3/8" drill bit are enough. This print needs support unless you have a heated bed that allows you to print the large flat base without curling, in which case the template is not very accurate. I print at low quality on a Makerbot Replicator 2 with thirty percent infill density for added stiffness. To use the part, clamp the pieces you want to join together and then clamp the template on top of them. Drilling the pieces separately might work, but doing both at once works better in my experience. Next, drill all the way through the top piece and down into the second one. You'll need to determine the correct depth and mark your 3/8" drill bit accordingly. After that, take the guide off, put the dowels into the lower piece, and slide the upper piece down onto the dowels. At first, the holes in the guide might be a little small, so you'll need to drill out some of the plastic. If your drill is not perfectly steady (mine isn't either), the guide might become deformed slightly as you're drilling it. If this happens and you feel like the guide is too loose, simply crank up the infill density. The guide also has three 1/8" holes for drilling pilot screw holes. You can use these holes to reposition the guide if needed; just stick a 1/8" drill bit into each hole and slide the guide down into them. I used glue on both the dowels and between the pieces for extra security. If you need to be able to disassemble the joint, the screws are probably sufficient to hold it together in that case. Alternatively, if you choose to skip using the screws, you can simply plug the holes and the result will appear relatively seamless. For a variation on this part, see my 4-hole template: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:673570