Today I’m walking you through the dowel-jig “hacks” I use to get better, faster, more repeatable dowel joinery—especially with my Dowelmax. I start by showing what comes with the jig (spacers, positioning pin, drill bit, and the positioning bar), then I get into the little modifications that make a big difference in day-to-day work. One of the first things I do is grind the set screws on the drill collars flush, because those proud grub screws will scrape your hands when you’re tightening a drill chuck. From there, it’s all about accuracy and workflow. I show how I undersize dowels for dry-fitting (so they slide in and out without pliers), how I color-code my bits and dowels (red for 1-1/2", blue for 2", plus a yellow setup for 3/4" stock), and how I use spacers to control alignment and reveals. I also share the “dowel planners” I made—simple templates that help me plan hole locations and alternate patterns so joints don’t interfere. Finally, I cover two problems that bite people: re-registering the jig to add holes, and drilling depth. I use a cut-off 3/8" drill bit as a positioning pin so the collar won’t interfere, and I use a simple depth-check tool to test every hole before glue-up. The goal is the same every time: dead accurate, super repeatable joinery, and panels that come out flat without needing to plane them.