spoke pointer

[RRaven]

Hello,
I've been googling ideas for methods of putting points on dowel (dowel sizes 12 mm up to 35 mm). I've found a tool called a 'spoke pointer' - looks like a giant pencil sharpener on a hand brace. But I can only find this on US sites. Does anyone know if there is a different name for such a thing in the UK?

Thanks

 

[AndyT]

I think you mean these from Veritas. Plenty from Ray Iles here:

https://www.oldtoolstore.co.uk/veritas- ... -250-p.asp

- and he also makes and sells the commoner UK pattern tool with a wooden body, not needing to be held in a brace.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Try 'dowel rounder' - they're not common, though, and some were made to produce a dome end rather than a point, so examine pictures and descriptions carefully!

Failing that, would a bit of careful whittling with a chisel do the job well enough?

 

[Seiken]

Do you mean one of these, they were for putting the chamfer on a dowel and fitted in a carpenters brace. The sketch is from an old notebook of mine c.1969 which is about the last time I saw one.

 

[Graham Orm]

Hello,
I've been googling ideas for methods of putting points on dowel (dowel sizes 12 mm up to 35 mm). I've found a tool called a 'spoke pointer' - looks like a giant pencil sharpener on a hand brace. But I can only find this on US sites. Does anyone know if there is a different name for such a thing in the UK?

Thanks

You could make something up using a chisel. I think Paul sellers did something similar, try Youtubing him and search dowel maker. Just a matter of angeling the blade.

EDIT: Here you are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCEj-TGfeI4

 

[bugbear]

Hello,
I've been googling ideas for methods of putting points on dowel (dowel sizes 12 mm up to 35 mm). I've found a tool called a 'spoke pointer' - looks like a giant pencil sharpener on a hand brace. But I can only find this on US sites. Does anyone know if there is a different name for such a thing in the UK?

Thanks

Are you trying for a point (all the way down to zero radius) a taper (e.g. used for fitting a leg into a stool) or a round tenon (as used when fitting spokes to felloes by a wheelright), or a tool to make a regular round from a rough blank (rounding plane).

4 tasks (at least) 4 different tools.

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

If you do mean something like Seiken's sketch, Dieter Schmidt sells them new

https://www.fine-tools.com/duebelmarkierer.html

They used to be available in UK. A larger pattern was also available, imported from the USA. They're rare but not super rare - Bristol Design often have them. I bought one on eBay and wouldn't have spent much on it.

 

[Seiken]

If you do mean something like Seiken's sketch, Dieter Schmidt sells them new

https://www.fine-tools.com/duebelmarkierer.html

They used to be available in UK. A larger pattern was also available, imported from the USA. They're rare but not super rare - Bristol Design often have them. I bought one on eBay and wouldn't have spent much on it.

£66 :?: :?: I'd definitely find another way

 

[RRaven]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Seiken and AndyT - yes that I was what I was meaning and that's a great picture thanks! Andy T your earlier suggestions look like they would do the same sort of job?

Bugbear - I'm needing a point, (I'm making giant knitting needles). So I'm wondering if any of those tools, including a spoke pointer, would actually make a point or whether they all leave a blunt end? I have been using a plane and spoke shave, I was just looking for a more efficient method. I guess if I could make something using a chisel as Graham Orm suggest, then in theory I could get it as pointed as I wanted.

Thanks

 

[Sheffield Tony]

You could get an old Marples rounded one and a pointy one from here:

http://www.oldtools.co.uk/102-drilling-tools

£18 each. A bit better. Sharpening might be interesting though.

 

[bugbear]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Seiken and AndyT - yes that I was what I was meaning and that's a great picture thanks! Andy T your earlier suggestions look like they would do the same sort of job?

Bugbear - I'm needing a point, (I'm making giant knitting needles). So I'm wondering if any of those tools, including a spoke pointer, would actually make a point or whether they all leave a blunt end? I have been using a plane and spoke shave, I was just looking for a more efficient method. I guess if I could make something using a chisel as Graham Orm suggest, then in theory I could get it as pointed as I wanted.

Thanks

Could you rig up a lathe with a chuck and fixed steady, and turn the points on? Fast and versatile.

This kind of thing?

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/144250

https://hants-woodturners-hwa.co.uk/try ... eady-rest/

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Ta da!

(from here: http://scrapwoodcity.blogspot.co.uk/201 ... t-for.html)

I'd use skate board or roller blade wheel myself.

BugBear

 

[ED65]

...I'm making giant knitting needles...

How many are you doing? If this isn't to produce them on an ongoing basis but just to make a few you could easily whittle, pare or shape with a spokeshave according to preference. You could even do it using a belt sander although that's not very hand-tooly.

 

[AndyT]

As far as I know, and looking at the tools I have, I think all the commercial tools will not shave all the way to a point.

If you can make a tapered hole, to the slope you want, in a block of wood, then you can cut some of the wood away and make something very much like a big pencil sharpener. Details will depend on what you use for a blade and how you hold it. A spokeshave blade could be a good choice and has a central hole for a retaining screw.

There are several ways to make the tapered hole. Old tapered auger bits are much easier to find than dowel trimmers or there are cheap taper drills from China on eBay which might be ok for a one off.

A lot depends on how many knitting needles you want to make and whether they need to be identical.

 

[Retire2004]

Hi RRaven,
Until you revealed what you were actually making, this thread didn't seem to be making much progress..............
Knitting needle points are quite long compared to the diameter, probably about 10 degrees per side (20 included). They have a small radius at the point (for safety) and a large radius where the taper meets the diameter.
Do you have a disc or belt sander? If so try the following: For needles above 13mm dia. drill a hole in one end and fix a woodscrew, cut off the head (this can be used for driving the work with a cordless drill. Hold the needle horizontally on the (disc) sander table and at about 10 degrees when viewed from above. Switch on the sander and drill. Apply light pressure with a notched stick near the point. Grind to a point and then apply the large radius to blend the taper with the diameter. The small radius at the point can be done by hand.
For the larger (and longer) needles you may need an assistant at one end or the other.
If you have an electric hand plane this can be used to rough out the larger needles. (Clamp the plane lightly in the vise with sole vertical using roughly the same method.

Regards, Tudor