Dowel Maker Plate

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Sometimes you get better results if you don't hammer the dowels through the plate, rather 'drill' them through.
For 10mm dowel I cut some square blanks roughly 15x15, rounded an inch of one end (I used a belt sander), put that in the drill and 'drilled' the rod through the plate. After it had gone through the 10mm hole, I left it in the drill and spun it whilst running some 120g sandpaper up and down it - finish was great.

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One 10mm, and one 8mm
 
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Sometimes you get better results if you don't hammer the dowels through the plate, rather 'drill' them through.
For 10mm dowel I cut some square blanks roughly 15x15, rounded an inch of one end (I used a belt sander), put that in the drill and 'drilled' the rod through the plate. After it had gone through the 10mm hole, I left it in the drill and spun it whilst running some 120g sandpaper up and down it - finish was great.

View attachment 151143

View attachment 151144

View attachment 151145
One 10mm, and one 8mm
Yes i did that too rather than whack it through. worked a treat.
 
Got my dowel plate from Steve a few days ago. It's brilliant! It has worked great for the pegs I've made with it so far, which helped me make my first drawbored mortise and tenon joints. On with the workbench!
 
I would love one of Peri’s dowel plates to upgrade my sad old bit of 1/4” fence steel with hand drilled holes (I have sent a pm)

I was going to add that I find it best to run the stock through the plate with a drill, but Peri has now described this.

Cheers
 
I don't have any here, but I can knock you up one when I'm back at work in the New Year.

I'll message you when it's done :)

(They're now £20+p&p - £25 all in)
 
Sometimes you get better results if you don't hammer the dowels through the plate, rather 'drill' them through.
For 10mm dowel I cut some square blanks roughly 15x15, rounded an inch of one end (I used a belt sander), put that in the drill and 'drilled' the rod through the plate. After it had gone through the 10mm hole, I left it in the drill and spun it whilst running some 120g sandpaper up and down it - finish was great.

View attachment 151143

View attachment 151144

View attachment 151145
One 10mm, and one 8mm

I don't have any here, but I can knock you up one when I'm back at work in the New Year.

I'll message you when it's done :)

(They're now £20+p&p - £25 all in)
Thanks , look forward to hearing from you, happy to send you the money now if you let me have your preferred payment details.

Thanks
 
I made the one you can find on utube where you drill a hole about 6mm or so in from the edge of a bit of steel, then hacksaw down through the little 6mm bit into the side of the hole, a few whacks with a chissel on this little tang bends it forming a sharp edge, wood is them pushed through in the drill. I found it a very satisfying way of producing dowels of any size, the finnish is quite rough but I felt this was actually a good thing because it held the glue. All my oak dowels have held up very well too.
Ps I think the Dowel plates on offer look very good too.
 
On the grounds that wood tends to be softer than steel I use normal black steel drill the hole to the size of dowel I need to make and use a stepped drill or conical grinder to open out one side of the hole for clearance -it's quick and it's great for one-offs
Always done this with the odd dowel I've wanted. Bought standard sized dowels in. They're cheap enough. A visit to most engineering type places will get you a suitable offcut of steel, often for free. The last time I asked at a local place, I was just told to help myself from the scrap bin.
 
How about one of the modern aluminium dowel makers? They have a tungsten cutter and offer 8 different sizes between 8mm and 20mm. You can pay anything between £11 -£60 for them. Perhaps an option if they have the sizes you want
 
I have a metric dowel plate bought from Axminster when I had more money than sense. The only real advantage is when making dowels longer than 50 mm. For drawboring they should be oak and made from a cleft piece of wood. The standard dowels can be bought in bulk from Kitchen supply outlets although biscuits and dominoes have largely taken over for joinery.
 
I'm more than happy to make you one Mark - I'll be back at work in the new year, I'll let you know when it's ready.

Cheers :)
 
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