Dowel size advice

[roadrunner45]

Hello All,

I am after some advice regarding the correct dowel size to use in a project, the help I am after is -

What diameter to use (6 , 8 or 10)?

What dowel length would I need , which I imagine is determined by thickness of wood?

Best place to buy wood dowels from , as when I visit screwfix, wickes etc they seem to have limited options?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Jacob]

Hello All,

I am after some advice regarding the correct dowel size to use in a project, the help I am after is -

What diameter to use (6 , 8 or 10)?

What dowel length would I need , which I imagine is determined by thickness of wood?

Best place to buy wood dowels from , as when I visit screwfix, wickes etc they seem to have limited options?

Thanks for your help.

Loads on ebay dowelling | eBay
What are you making?

 

[Austin Branson]

Hello,
I very rarely use dowels, but a rule of thumb for a traditional mortice and tenon is a third. The tenon is one third the thickness of the timber. As a starter for ten, I would run with a similar approach to dowels. I am assuming that you are doing edge to face joints. If you are pegging joints, I drill the holes a distance of at least one and a half times the diameter of the peg from the edge of the timber. I’m sure there are plenty of better experienced folks out there who can give you better advice. Best wishes.

 

[John Hall]

Lots more detail regarding what your making would be really useful…it’s hard to advise without knowing what it’s for.

 

[MARK.B.]

As above a bit more info will help people guide you in the right direction

 

[roadrunner45]

As above a bit more info will help people guide you in the right direction

Hello , the project i am working on is a shoe rack from plywood , please see image below -
I have cut all the wood and was going to assemble with dowels , so there is no visible fixings.
Thank you.

 

[Jacob]

Hello , the project i am working on is a shoe rack from plywood , please see image below -
I have cut all the wood and was going to assemble with dowels , so there is no visible fixings.
Thank you.

Neat design. Glue, and screw from behind? Or just screw. No fixings in sight.
Even easier with a countersink drill bit https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...0i22i30l9.22607j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[MARK.B.]

As Jacob says glue and screw from the back, it will be a lot less faffing around than trying to assemble with dowels and removes the risk of getting your holes misaligned which is never a good thing

 

[roadrunner45]

Neat design. Glue, and screw from behind? Or just screw. No fixings in sight.
Even easier with a countersink drill bit https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...0i22i30l9.22607j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for your reply, I will buy the countersink drill bit as looks like a good solution.

 

[roadrunner45]

As Jacob says glue and screw from the back, it will be a lot less faffing around than trying to assemble with dowels and removes the risk of getting your holes misaligned which is never a good thing

Thanks for your reply, I will construct with glue and screws , what would you recommend for the finish, is there a clear lacquer for plywood?

 

[Jacob]

Thanks for your reply, I will construct with glue and screws , what would you recommend for the finish, is there a clear lacquer for plywood?

Lots of options. I'd go for Osmo oil, mainly because I've used it for floors and other things and it seems easy to use and very hard wearing.

 

[MARK.B.]

There are quite a few as Jacob say's , I made a shoe rack for my daughter and her family and used a cheap bargain brand flooring varnish , its tough as old boots if you will forgive the pun Almost 5 years old now and still looks pretty good.

 

[Herr Nilsson]

Appreciate the OP found an alternative solution, but came across this thread due to the title…

Regarding best place to buy dowels….

Despite the VERY long delivery time, I found an independent UK company called ‘Appleby Wood Turnings Ltd’ selling hardwood dowels of all sizes up to 12mm diameter. Best price on the net AFAICS, even after £10 shipping.

FYI - They also sell 8mm shank CMT dowel drill bits (suitable for the Mafell Duo Doweller DDF40), which are half the price of the ones sold by Mafell. To be fair, the delay was on the 5mm CMT drill bits that had to be backfilled from Italy, but communication regarding this was a bit wayward, however, this was COVID/post-Brexit, so c’est la vie.

When I spoke to them, they were clearly a very friendly and knowledgeable bunch, despite them having terrible reviews on Trust Pilot. I think their main business is hardwood plugs and big CNC machinery.