Butt Joints, T-Joints, Miter Joints and Edge Joints on Any Stock Thickness or Size!
Cam-A-Line uses a sliding cam system to maintain even spacing between 3 drill guide bushings. You can space the bushings as close as 3/4" (20 mm) center-to-center or spread them out up to 1-3/4" (44 mm) center-to-center. This spacing range lets you have an evenly spaced three-dowel array on a workpiece from 2-1/4" wide up to 5-1/2" wide. You can go narrower than 2-1/4" by using only 2 of the guide bushings and you can go wider than 5-1/2" by using groups of pins.
The easiest way to use Cam-A-Line utilizes the engraved centerlines. Just clamp your two boards together exactly where you want them. Strike a line across the joint. Align Cam-A-Line's engraved centerline with the marks on each piece and drill your joint. The holes will line up perfectly and create a joint that rivals loose tenon or mortise and tenon joints for strength and durability. You can use the same process for miter joints, too.
When you have stacks of similar joints to make, the stop system speeds things up, compared to using a centerline. Once your stop is set, it provides a quick physical reference to locate your work, eliminating aligning the jig to a pencil mark. You can quickly re-index the stop on the other end of the jig to drill the mirror image on your joining piece.
Using dowels in edge-glued panels can save hours of hand planing and sanding. The dowels keep the top surface of your panel flat, even when the sections have a little bit of twist or bow. The extension rods for the stop system let you set the spacing between dowel pins wherever you want it.