About Dowl-It

“The Original Since 1949”

The story of Dowl-it begins in the mid-1940s with a master cobbler by the name of Clifford Wellman. Cliff was a wholesome family man from Michigan who took pride in exercising his creative abilities. Clifford Wellman could build anything he could dream up – he was truly a master of his trade.

One afternoon, while building a cabinet for his wife, he had a vision – a tool that could self-center, allowing him to drill multiple holes almost effortlessly. This way, when butting two joints, the drill holes would line up perfectly, resulting in a flawless finished project.

It was then that Cliff built the very first doweling jig. He made it out of cast iron and aluminum. It worked exactly as he had envisioned. From there, Cliff took the jig to a master machinist, who built the very first professional prototype.

Cliff introduced the jig to a woodshop teacher, who fell in love with the tool and asked Cliff to build him one of his own. As more people became aware of Cliff’s awesome invention, everyone wanted one. Cliff saw the potential business associated with his design, so he obtained a patent for it.  He built each jig by hand, but was unable to keep up with the demand. It was in 1949 that Cliff started “Dowl-it”. He believed in quality, and wanted every woodworker to have the ability to create beautiful, flawless projects. This tool gave them that ability.

All of our Dowl-it brand doweling jigs are still manufactured in Michigan, right here at our Spring Lake facility. We still honor Clifford Wellman’s goal – to produce the highest quality tool, maintain loyal customer relationships, and of course, support the idea that if you can dream it, you can Dowl-it.

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