Dowel Quick Dowelling Jig

[Oday Forster]

Makingdowels is easy to do, and it allows you to use scraps of any material you have on hand. The last time I did it I ripped a thin, square strip on the tablesaw and then rounded it over using a block plane, rotating the workpiece after each series of passes. It worked OK, but it was time-consuming and not completely accurate or round. A better method is to use a dowel plate, which lets you make accurately sized, perfectly round dowels in no time.

I rive out a block so that all four sides are as nice and parallel to the grain as I can get, then cut the block into dowel blanks on the bandsaw (far less waste than the tablesaw, as well as easier and safer to handle, given that the block is relatively small, typically about 2" x 2" x 6").

I found one of these some years ago. I use it occasionaly and it works well. It is similar to Lie-neilsen's but not as many hole sizes. It also cuts grooves as it forms the dowel and it has a sharpener to champfer the end of the dowel. No manf markings.

I think riving is the way to go, especially if you're draw boring the pins. I made my own dowell plate from a piece of half inch plate I had in my scrap metal box. I drilled holes in 16th increments from 1/4 to 1/2 and left enough room for some mounting holes to mount it to one of my bench legs. I heated it up to cherry red with a friends acetylene torch and dunked it in a bucket of water. I tend to pull the dowels through with some vice grips after witteling down the end. I start a few sizes bigger than what I need and work it down with successive holes. I got the idea from one of Roy Underhill's books.

I used a chunk of an old car's leaf spring that my bud tossed into a campfire in order to remove the temper. Softened it right up. It's about a 5/16" thick. Whenever I need to make a different size dowel I just drill a different hole in it.

This sounds like a great idea, but it also sounds time consuming. I agree, there is nothing better than home made dowels. I use scraps from my project and just run them through the router table using a round over bit. You have to start about three inches in from one end and stop three inches in from the other end to keep square ends on the table, but you make four quick passes and your done. A little touch up with some sandpaper any your finished. Basically, a 1/8th round over bit will give you a 1/4 dowel and a 1/4 round over bit will give you a 1/2 dowel and so on.

I use the Veritas dowel maker from Lee Valley. It,s ajustable so you can make your dowel slightly larger or smaller to suit your needs. Start with a square blank any length a little larger than the nominal size of the dowel, chuck one end in a 3/8 drill and power it thru the dowel maker. Works like a charm.

For large wood dowel plugs I have used a piece of wood chucked into my metal lathe not as quick as using a dowel plate.

By the way if you are using a very low carbon steel heating and quenching it is not going to do much.

You might need to use Kasenit and case harden it.

I use a multitude of 1/4 inch dowel pins, mostly maple and walnut, for pinned MT joints. I order from Atlas Dowel or Midwest Dowel, asking that they not be undersized. They are very good in sending sized and slightly over (1/32?). I chamfer the ends in an old hand crank pencil sharpener, cut to length and hammer through a sizing plate. Has been working wonderfully for 12 years.

I use the LN dowel plate for all my pegs. I crosscut a short length of the stock I'll be using, rive off a section with a wide chisel, split that again if it's wide enough, then sharpen the end quickly with the chisel and drive it through from largest hole down to desired hole. This is a good use for old offcuts that have been sitting in the scrap bin drying for the past few years. You could also dry the stock a bit further with hot sand or a small light-bulb kiln (an old chairmaker's trick). Bone dry, they'll absorb any moisture in the workpiece or glue, and swell up snug.

Because it's riven, meaning continuous grain fibers for the entire length providing maximum wood strength, you don't really have to chamfer the edges with a block plane. The blank can be driven through the first hole quite fat and square without damaging it. Fast and easy (if a little noisy).

For the purist or for the woodworker who has too much time on their hands this sounds like a fun project. Frankly, I'd rather spend my time focusing on the more interesting, complicated and important details.

I buy three (3') dowel rods and keep them stored in two (2) length categories, short and long (highly technical as you can see). My storage containers are two (2) pieces of 1 1/2" cpvc shackled to the side of a shelving unit.

In terms of fit; these dowel rods are made God knows where these days. So sizes are all over the block. But if you have a complete set of number, letter and metric drill bits in addition to your fractionals in a matter of minutes one can find the appropriate drill bit.

GBonaparte

Century Millwork

I found a piece of tube the right internal diameter to fit a drill bit - I think they're 10mm but could be wrong. I cut bits of scrap pine blocks to the length+ of the dowel I need, hammer the tube through, and push the dowel out with a narrower drill bit. The sawn edge of the tube gives the dowel some 'fluting', which is enhanced further by the use of a craft knife. The end not hit by the drill bit is chamfered, and then the rest is tap it into the hole, and cut off the excess. So, possibly the same as riving, but not sure. Oh, and most of the work I do is pine, so I'm using up old lengths of blocks, less wastage that way! Sorry for the ramble.

I found a piece of tube the right internal diameter to fit a drill bit - I think they're 10mm but could be wrong. I cut bits of scrap pine blocks to the length+ of the dowel I need, hammer the tube through, and push the dowel out with a narrower drill bit. The sawn edge of the tube gives the dowel some 'fluting', which is enhanced further by the use of a craft knife. The end not hit by the drill bit is chamfered, and then the rest is tap it into the hole, and cut off the excess. Most of the work I do is pine, so I'm using up off cuts - less wastage that way! Sorry for the ramble, and if this comes on twice - didn't seem to appear the first time...

Great comments. I had a dowel plate made many years ago with tapered holes. First I make dowels oversized. Then I steam then, soak them or boil them a bit and then drive them through the tapered hole which compresses them. Then I drive them into a joint with glue. I have a number of work boxes made with these compressed dowel joints and not a one has ever come lose! Lou :-)

And for those doubting this, saying it sounds "time consuming", I assure you, it takes FAR less time than a drive to the store (unless you like next door to a shop that sells quality dowels) and less time than it will to call and order or even turn on the PC and place an order.

I normally keep a few different types of stock in thicknesses just oversize of the dowels I normally use, trying to use straight grain material for the stock. And then when I need a peg or two, I just grab my Japanese carpenter's knife (or chisel for really thick or tough stock) and split off as much peg stock as I need, round the end a bit with the same knife, and pound it through the holes until I reach the desired size. Super fast, super easy.

Another neat trick, use sawn stock of size you have a square mortise chisel for and rather than pound the peg all the way through the dowel plate, leave a square section at the top. Now take your hole for the pag, line the mortise chisel up around it and tap it in about 3/16" deep, maybe a bit more, and clean the hole up nice. Now you can pound in the half round peg and have the appearance of a square peg with a nice clean fit!

Also, grade 8 washers will also work in a pinch, especially if you lap them flat to sharpen the edges. Also, large, thick grade 5 washers can be used as well, just drill the size hole you need in the washer (not the center hole, off to the side) and use as normal. These will stay sharp much longer than normal mild steel.

In any event, I measure the dowels first with a dial caliper and use the next drill size down for compression (I have a full set of fractional, numbered and lettered bits). I taper the dowel end slightly on my belt sander.

I had a similar device custom made by a local machine shop several years ago. It has many more diameters (up to 1 inch) in a half inch steel plate. I don't remember the cost but I doubt that it was as much as the commercial item. It works pretty well, even with locust, which I use for outdoor structures.

@tarsier: I believe what NM is referring to is a hole drilled through the diameter of the round, not through the flat ends, hence his recommendation for a jig to center the hole on it. The fluted sides of the hole then make better cutting edges than a flat hole, especially since spinning the peg with a drill causes a spiral cutting action. Interesting.

For those who can find one or can afford it, the Stanley # 77 Dowel maker is still works great for me. Although the odd size dowel cutters are hard to find and expensive you can make almost any size and length of any type of wood you can find.

Try gripping the rough dowel in your hand drill and then spinning the wood through the dowel plate. It is faster than hammering, doesn't leave you with a mushroom end and saves time if you need to make a larger number of them.

Many good tips listed. One other, which is similar to SDBranam's tip: I had some maple dowel stock (store purchased) that was slightly too large for the mating holes. I cut the stock to length, then placed them on a microwave safe plate, and hit them with full power in our microwave for about a minute. I did about 2 dozen at a time. This dried them out, and subsequently reduced their diameter sufficiently to easily fit the holes. After they were glued up, they expanded from the glue's moisture, and weren't going anywhere. Just another alternative.

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