Dowel making

[paullap]

Hi All, Anyone use a dowel making tool , I have heard good and bad reports , any recommendations please .

Paul

 

[Fitzroy]

For large quantities of regularly sized dowel I buy it, life’s too short. For a few small dowels of odd size I have a dowel plate, a piece of 5mm plate with holes drilled in it from 3mm to 20mm. It works pretty well but is laborious as you have to cut stock square and a touch oversized then bang the pieces through plate multiple times to get to your desired size. The finish can be a little rough.

 

[kinverkid]

I have the Ganwei dowel maker. Had it for a couple of years now. Before that, I used Fitzroy's dowel plate method as above which produces useable shorter dowels. If using a dowel as a joint fixing I will usually use regular bought dowels, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm. But when requiring blending or contrasting dowels I'll normally use the dowel maker. It's fast and can produce better quality dowels and longer ones than using the plate method. Better dowel jigs have now been developed but generally follow the same principle of using a TCT square cutter and 6mm to 20mm holes.

 

[JSW]

 

[Orraloon]

I have the same one as kinverkid but dont think its the same brand name. Uses a tct cutter and as luck would have it it's same as the ones in my thicknesser. Some woods cut cleaner than others so at times the dowel can look a bit hairy. If they are for holding a joint together then that does not matter and the roughness holds more glue. Its a handy thing to have and does not cost much.
Regards
John

 

[SVB]

Tried multiple methods has have recently made a few Rob cosman style ‘hidden hinge’ boxes so need dowel from same material as box. I used the carbide cutter ones from Temu that were fine for 10mm dowel, esp as a surface roughness is planed off in this project. 6mm dowel is more problematic as not found maker small enough and seem too slender to be bashed through dowel plate in lengths I need. However, as a turner I’ve just ended up turning some that works for the occasional time I need them.

 

[HamsterJam]

I turn non-standard dowels on the lathe. You don’t get the grooves however.
Have done some supersized dowel joints like this using a 20mm forstner bit to create the holes/mortises/sockets.

 

[squib]

I use the veritas dowel cutters, they are now quite expensive but give excellent results. Also can be used for tapering larger stock with a straight blade.
https://www.axminstertools.com/veri...2WZenh3U26psTBHlmxaXdDysqeokf31hoC2VYQAvD_BwE

 

[Amplidyne]

Always just bought them in, or used a dowel plate. Finish doesn't really matter as long as they are the right size.

 

[MikeB1972]

Depends on what you are using the dowel for.
Hidden in joints - just buy it.
Visible things, hinges, pins etc, I use rounding planes. the Ray Iles ones work well, but they are fairly expensive, so I make my own rounders.

 

[Spectric]

As @Fitzroy has said lifes to short and as I have said in other threads that dowels are not the fastest process going so why make it longer by making the dowels. I buy ready made fluted dowels in several sizes but also dowel rod in 500mm lengths and with a jig cut them to size when needed, the flutes really are needed especially in MDF and to some extent ply to prevent the material blowing by letting excess glue escape.

 

[scholar]

For large quantities of regularly sized dowel I buy it, life’s too short. For a few small dowels of odd size I have a dowel plate, a piece of 5mm plate with holes drilled in it from 3mm to 20mm. It works pretty well but is laborious as you have to cut stock square and a touch oversized then bang the pieces through plate multiple times to get to your desired size. The finish can be a little rough.

For smaller dowels I use a dowel plate but start with square stock oversize - round off one end to fit in a cordless drill - then run the drill whilst pushing the stock through decreasing size holes till you get the desired size. This leaves a cleaner finish than hammering it.

For larger dowels, the Woodrat is very good although takes a little bit of set up.

For quantity, though, I agree buy in. I have bought from G&S before and these were good. https://www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/

Cheers

 

[Fitzroy]

For smaller dowels I use a dowel plate but start with square stock oversize - round off one end to fit in a cordless drill - then run the drill whilst pushing the stock through decreasing size holes till you get the desired size. This leaves a cleaner finish than hammering it.

For larger dowels, the Woodrat is very good although takes a little bit of set up.

For quantity, though, I agree buy in. I have bought from G&S before and these were good. https://www.toolsandtimber.co.uk/

Cheers

I did recently use the drill press and dowel plate to make dowels for drawboring the legs on my workbench, the dowels were indeed a much better finish. I was however limited by the travel of my drill press. I didn't think to try the hand drill as I assumed too much pressure would be needed, based on my experience of the hammer force needed. I shall give it a go next time, thanks for the pointer!

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I bought a couple if these from Temu, in metric and imperial ...




They work well. You need to use a socket to grip the end of the dowel.

Choose straight grain.

Regards from Perth

Derek