# Dowel plate



## No skills

So here we are all new an shiney eh  

Anybody made their own dowel plate before? £50 for a lie half nelson one had me laughing so much I nearly spilt my tea.

Got some chunky offcuts of regular mild steel plate at work (10mm and some 20mm), would this be good enough if heat treated some how?

Any thoughts?


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## marcros

No skills":3rmsoxz8 said:


> So here we are all new an shiney eh
> 
> Anybody made their own dowel plate before? £50 for a lie half nelson one had me laughing so much I nearly spilt my tea.
> 
> Got some chunky offcuts of regular mild steel plate at work (10mm and some 20mm), would this be good enough if heat treated some how?
> 
> Any thoughts?



If you do make it work, i would happily buy one off you because the £50 is putting me off, and nobody else appears to supply them.


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## Jacob

I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
It's very useful.


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## marcros

Jacob":51fljarf said:


> I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
> It's very useful.



tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?

how thick is the plate?


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## Jacob

marcros":12djc367 said:


> Jacob":12djc367 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
> It's very useful.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?
> 
> how thick is the plate?
Click to expand...

er - getting wider going down from the cutting edge. I've got it mounted at one end of my bench. I've seen pictures of people using it loose but this looks difficult to me.
Thickness, must be 1/4" or more, I'll have a look.


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## marcros

Jacob":huxxlepc said:


> marcros":huxxlepc said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jacob":huxxlepc said:
> 
> 
> 
> I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
> It's very useful.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?
> 
> how thick is the plate?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> er - getting wider going down from the cutting edge. I've got it mounted at one end of my bench. I've seen pictures of people using it loose but this looks difficult to me.
> Thickness, must be 1/4" or more, I'll have a look.
Click to expand...


so, for want of a better decription, relieved after the dowl is to size?


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## jimi43

Hi NS

I don't think you can heat treat mild steel...

If you are going to make one I'd use some tool steel plate (gauge plate)....

How big did you want this plate?

Jim


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## marcros

would there be any interest in a group buy?


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## liamscanlan

I may be interested in a group purchase but need to do a little research first....
Liam


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## jasonB

Gauge plate (ground flat stock) would be the best option, this is a higher carbon steel so can be hardened & tempered.

J


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## marcros

jasonB":349jp3ay said:


> Gauge plate (ground flat stock) would be the best option, this is a higher carbon steel so can be hardened & tempered.
> 
> J



I will have a word with a machine shop locally, find out some approx costs of say a dozen. That way if anybnody wants one we have a rough price.


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## AndyT

I've made one, probably out of mild steel, but it seemed fairly hard to drill and wore out hacksaw blades so it might be something harder. I'll post some pictures this evening when I get back home.


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## jasonB

From my MSC cataloge 18" length of 1/4"x2" would be £17.39 or if you go metric a 500mm length of 6x50mm is £20.00 both plus VAT.

A lot of the model engineering suppliers will do it in half lengths of 9" but you pay for the privilage.

J


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## Dangermouse

To make a good plate that would last a long time, Tool Steel is needed. This can be hardened after its been made and would last a very long time. Mild steel cannot be hardened, although it would do the job, it wouldn't keep an edge very long.


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## marcros

jasonB":6lbpresr said:


> From my MSC cataloge 18" length of 1/4"x2" would be £17.39 or if you go metric a 500mm length of 6x50mm is £20.00 both plus VAT.
> 
> A lot of the model engineering suppliers will do it in half lengths of 9" but you pay for the privilage.
> 
> J



i have a local guy- similar prices but no vat to add. might get a bit of discount for quantity. might be able to wangle a deal with cromwell, or get machine shop to supply and make holes.


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## Phil Pascoe

Wouldn't a leaf spring do? you could probably pick one up from a breaker - it'd give you steel for all sorts of things, if you're into making your own stuff.


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## CHJ

Tool Steel/Gauge plate is the way to go but if you have a load of Mild Steel to hand then it could be used after Case Hardening the outer surface, purchasing the bone meal/case hardening compound may well set you back as much as a lump of tool steel though.

I have made odd sized 'QMax' type cutters and punches for use on aluminium and brass from case hardened Mild Steel and they last several years.


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## houtslager

yep I made one years ago from some scrap 1/2" steel dunno if its plate or just orny steel.
I drilled a load of holes and left the burr on, this side I use as the top face, , cleave the wanted timber to oversize and using a blooddy big hammer belt it through, get a 90% good with the rest breaking 

K

will post a piccie of it when I can.


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## dickm

houtslager":1nw4rzwz said:


> yep I made one years ago from some scrap 1/2" steel dunno if its plate or just orny steel.
> I drilled a load of holes and left the burr on, this side I use as the top face, , cleave the wanted timber to oversize and using a blooddy big hammer belt it through, get a 90% good with the rest breaking


Ditto. Unless you are using the plate an awful lot, MS is probably adequate.

A trick which has been used is apparently to drill right through a Picador drill bit stand and use that; very precise, but not very long lasting.


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## AndyT

Here's mine, to demonstrate that you don't need exceptional metal working skills to make something that works!







The steel was bought from a scrapyard and was quite hard - what's the difference between hot and cold-rolled? Could it be whichever one is harder?

The most important thing is to get a sharp edge to the holes, which I did just by filing and scraping across the surface.


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## marcros

how thick is it andy? Is it just a straight hole, tapered by a round file?


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## AndyT

marcros":2zuzur64 said:


> how thick is it andy? Is it just a straight hole, tapered by a round file?



It's 5mm and the holes are straight. It's not the _best_ that could be made, but it was _good enough_ when I needed it. Sometimes I agonise too long over things, but not always!


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## jimi43

From what I have read...and cannot now find...when drilling the holes do not put a backing piece on the plate. That way the break-through is a burr and aids in cutting the dowel.

Jim


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## Cheshirechappie

The difference between hot-rolled and colled-rolled is that one is rolled at forging heat - red heat or hotter - then allowed to cool, and the other is finish-rolled at room temperature. The consequences are that the hot-rolled stuff develops a black scale as it cools, but is usually less prone to locked-in surface stresses. The cold-rolled stuff is hot rolled oversize first, then allowed to cool, pickled to remove the scale, and finished with light passes through the rollers to bring it to size and give a good, shinyish surface finish. This process work-hardens the surface and locks in stresses, so if one surface is subsequently worked by filing or machining it off, the stress release can cause the piece to distort, usually with a mild banana-like bend.

By the way, there are hundreds of grades of steel available, many of them supplied in hot rolled, colled rolled or cold drawn forms. A bit of scrap could be almost any of them, so don't be too surprised by unusual working properties. If what you're doing needs critical machining or welding, it's much better to buy new material of the appropriate grade from a steel stockholder. 

I think a dowel plate for occasional use could well be made of mild steel - it would be quick and cheap enough to replace if it wore much anyway. For something expected to work harder, a hardening grade of steel would be better; gauge plate (most of which is 01 grade) hardened and tempered to a spring temper would probably do very nicely, though through-hardening a 1/4" or 3/8" piece really needs a muffle furnace or similar.


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## No skills

Well this one has run well  I dont actually 'need' a dowel plate atm - I just keep seeing these bits of plate and thinking 'that would make a nice dowel plate'.

After thinking that I went and had a look at LN dowel plate prices and thought YHAFL, hence my question here now. If a dowel plate can be sharpened by flattening the face then maybe thick mild steel isnt a bad choice for the hobby wood worker. Drill the sizes you want, maybe counterbore from the other side with a bit a touch larger - if its blunt after a while grind/stone/file over the top face of the holes and your good to go for you next project???


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## No skills

I'll have a look at work tommorrow for some leaf springs, you never know.


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## Peter Sefton

I have one I made years ago out of piece of steel I had in the workshop not sure what the steel was but I do remember it took some drilling. I confess I bought a LN a couple of years ago as mine does not look so profesisonal in front of students. £50 later it is no better than my shop made one!


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## Hutzul

One consideration could be a piece of stainless steel of perhaps 5mm thickness, would be a bit tougher than mild steel and won't rust.


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## No skills

I did have a couple of bits of thicker stainless (some sort of bracket), not sure if it was 5mm though - again I'll look at work.


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## bugbear

AndyT":4aeh1727 said:


> Here's mine, to demonstrate that you don't need exceptional metal working skills to make something that works!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The steel was bought from a scrapyard and was quite hard - what's the difference between hot and cold-rolled? Could it be whichever one is harder?
> 
> The most important thing is to get a sharp edge to the holes, which I did just by filing and scraping across the surface.



I've used similar techniques to "sharpen" the cutters of my Spong kitchen mincer.

I use a dowel plate (vintage, cheap, natch) which is not fixed down. I made a endgrain block from a piece of firewood, with a dado which fits the plate (loosely).

There's a hole drilled down through the block to accept the formed dowel, and the plate is placed with the desired hole over it. Since the working force is vertical, the plate stays more or less inplace, and (further) as soon as the formed dowel enters the hole, the plate is even more likely to stay put.

One of the nice things about a dowel plate is the ability to use the same timber for the dowels as the main pieces in an item.

BugBear


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## Gerard Scanlan

Here is one I made a while ago.
I just picked up this piece of steel in a scrap yard and it works a treat.
the-first-time-i-held-a-mallet-t58102.html


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## lanemaux

For all the use mine might see , I'm thinking just a few drilled holes in one of my many surplus lawn mower blades. And my wife said I would never use them!


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## Hitch

If anyone wants a bit of mild steel plate to try making one or two, drop me a PM and a self addressed/stamped up envelope.

Might even be able to muster up a few bits of hardox plate, but cant remember what grade it is though.

We don't keep bright flat unfortunately.


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## No skills

Well I've been hunting round at work the last few days and havent found much else thats any good, some leaf springs yes - but their still attached to a scrapper lorry atm and I need to wait and see whats happening with it before cutting them  

I'm going to save a bit of thick plate in case I feel like having a go with mild steel, thing with this job is the oddest things turn up at the oddest times so I'll bide my time see what crops up. On a brighter note I've found some casters and possably a screw that I can use for a wagon vice on my bench build so not a dead loss.

One last thought for the day, how about drilling out some old hex sockets (ala socket set) to punch the wood through? the steel must be pretty good even in cheap efforts, as long as you can devise a way to hold them (regular steel plate with holes to suit) of course....


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## promhandicam

I wish you luck - and a good supply of drill bits - trying to drill a truck leaf spring.


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## CHJ

promhandicam":214yfhxz said:


> I wish you luck - and a good supply of drill bits - trying to drill a truck leaf spring.



Heat to Cherry Red and let cool slowly (in barbeque embers) to soften it.
Then reheat as suggested HERE


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