When is it more appropriate to use dowel and dowel insertion equipment versus other types of fasteners and insertion equipment?
Mel Hatch, president, Accu-Systems Inc.: Dowels work great for joining panels that are a finished product. Some RTA applications use dowels for alignment and also use metal fasteners for assembly. Generally, dowels can be inserted in a production process much quicker than other fasteners. Many pieces of furniture are not suitable for the use of metal fasteners so dowels are used. Dowels are very common in non-solid work applications. Many other construction methods will break out. In solid wood applications it is common to see a mortise and tenon joint. Hans J. Meier, executive vice president, Koch Machinery: Dowel insertion equipment is used for a fast and automated joining of furniture and cabinet components. The dowel leads to a precision connection with pre-drilled locations, which allows for fast, easy and accurate assembly of furniture or other components. The dowel also offers a non-visible joint for wooden components. Insertion of dowels is a fairly standard procedure. There ar
