I have found that when I buy dowels the nominal size is close to what it is supposed to be,but can vary enough that it is too loose or way too tight.Metal!
This true,Harry, I have found bits though that are undersized by.005",that will not tighten up in the musclechuck, but will tighten up in a regular router collet chuck.The MUSCLECHUCK is so accurate that a bit will slowly lower itself into the collet. At least one other member has confirmed that.
Those dowels are different, I am talking about the 3' long dowels sticks. I use the long ones for a lot of projects. I also find the wood working drill bits are a nominal size,not as accurate as metal working bits.Well made dowels are supposed to be like biscuits. They get compressed and are designed to swell up when you glue them.
There is something to that too, getting the dowel and the drill bit to match. I have never had problems with short dowels for joinery, just the hydraulic presser you mention and the grooved dowels work great to solve that problem.Herb I used to use a lot of the Ramin dowels too. They aren't all that accurate so maybe the bits were good and the dowels weren't. I've cut grooves along the sides before when I was worried about too much hydraulic pressure.
