Have you actually tried it? For what looks like a simple jig and process there is a lot of trial and error involved. It is also difficult to exactly reproduce the same diameter dowel at a later date using this method. It does produce reasonable dowels but I found it hard to dial in an exact diameter.
Reducing the size of dowels
- Thread starter pigwins
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Some of you are so busy being helpful you dont seem to grasp he is talking about THREE HUNDRED dowels, each one 45 INCHES long.
And they are HICKORY, one of the toughest woods out there.
That is a major undertaking.
And they are HICKORY, one of the toughest woods out there.
That is a major undertaking.
novocaine
Established Member
Yes I've tried it. I took 50ish 60cm long 16mm birch dowels from an ikea cot amd turned them in to 14mm dowels and 10mm dowels. The 14mm were used to stabilise a laminate bench and the 10s were used to fill pocket hole holes in a few window frames and picture frames i knocked up for the garage and the office (you can guess which was used where). It was all done at once so the first inch was cut and checked then adjusted to be right.
300 would be a few hours work and no dowt need the blade sharpening a few times. Bob osnt wrong about that.
300 would be a few hours work and no dowt need the blade sharpening a few times. Bob osnt wrong about that.
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
sunnybob":2bcwuqk6 said:
YouTube says that a table saw jig is the way to go: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W1n6IRxsZow
I reckon that a table saw and a drill would be quick, easy, and it seems likely to be accurate. I have never tried it, so YMMV.
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
sunnybob":hd8d5c08 said:
I do so hope you are referring to me. It would be a first, admittedly.
Anyone watching the excellent Sampson Boat Company on YouTube will have seen thousands of wooden trenails being made from hardwood, using the Veritas cutter and an electric drill. Why oh why didn't someone suggest it in the first few posts? 
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Regardless of the subspecies even if using dowel plate made from mild steel this will work. Yes the hole will dull, even if the plate were silver steel it would. So you drill a new hole and use that. Simples. Or one engages the noggin and drills multiple holes to begin with, using them in sequence. Even more simples!
To forestall any doubters, yes mild; I've seen dowels produced in purpleheart using draw plates made from angle iron, and purpleheart laughs at hickory.
But perhaps the elephant in the room is how straight the grain is in these and whether many have grain runout (if I were a betting man I'd say more likely than not) and how bad it is. On any where it is particularly bad no method may be entirely safe so the loss rate may be unacceptably high.
To forestall any doubters, yes mild; I've seen dowels produced in purpleheart using draw plates made from angle iron, and purpleheart laughs at hickory.
But perhaps the elephant in the room is how straight the grain is in these and whether many have grain runout (if I were a betting man I'd say more likely than not) and how bad it is. On any where it is particularly bad no method may be entirely safe so the loss rate may be unacceptably high.
If the OP really wants someone else to do the job, it might be worth contacting one of the specialist firms who are set up to machine hardwood dowelling. They might be flexible enough to consider these oversized dowels as part-processed raw material.
The two most frequently mentioned firms are Plug-it Dowel and Appleby Wood Turning.
Worth a couple of phone calls, I would think.
The two most frequently mentioned firms are Plug-it Dowel and Appleby Wood Turning.
Worth a couple of phone calls, I would think.
