The doweled butt joint is useful in building screen frames, doors, furniture, and many types of glued woodwork.

After the pieces have been squared, the first Step is gaging center lines for the dowel holes. Do the gaging from the face-marked sides as shown in Fig. 26 at A. If you are making a table, for example, mark the rails first; then reset the gage for marking the legs.

How to mark the location of the dowel holes is shown at B. The corresponding rail and leg are gripped temporarily in the vise and cross lines are scratched on with a knife. Accuracy is the prime consideration at this point if a square, tight-fitting joint is to result.

Marking the centers is shown at C. A fine finishing nail is used as a prick punch to make a place for the spur of the auger bit. If this is not done, the grain of the wood may throw the bit out of line before the spur has taken hold. Another method of marking two pieces is simply to place common pins on one part and press the other part on the first in the correct position.

Boring the dowel holes is illustrated at D. A try-square if used when boring serves to test the angle of the auger bit and in a measure indicates the depth of the hole. Note the advance of the chuck along the blade to tell how deep the point of the bit has gone in. Set the table leg at an angle in the vise to allow the knob of the brace to go against your body. Get each hole as nearly perpendicular as possible. In the average work a good depth for the holes is about 11/16 in. for 2-in. dowels.

Making the dowels is done as at E. If they are not purchased ready-made, the wooden dowels must be made of straight-grained hard wood. Split the rough pieces and plane them as shown or make a wooden block with a triangular groove to support the wood. A dowel plate - a steel plate with holes of various sizes - also may be used.

Testing the joint is shown at F. The dowels are cut to length and pointed slightly at the ends. If they fit the holes very tightly, it is well to run the plane over them to make a narrow flat surface, or make a saw kerf their full length. This allows the pocketed air and surplus glue to escape and lessens the chance of the wood's splitting. Use a small brush or a stick slightly less than the dowels in diameter to put glue in the holes. Then insert the dowels in the rails. Glue the joining surfaces, press the parts together, and apply clamps. Test again when the clamps are in place, to see that the clamps have not been so tightened as to distort the joints, which sometimes causes unexpected difficulties.