Dowel Bit

John French

Member
Messages
131
Location
Painesville Ohio
Do they make such a thing. Would like to make some 21/2" dowels out of cherry. If not I will have to plug them. But I'll lose some of the area of the dowel and its only a inch as it is.
 
I'm sure that you will get better answers than this, however:

1--They sell steel plates that you force wood through to make dowels. You start with large holes and work down to the size you want.

2--I wanted some short dowels I could not find in a store (1/8"). I turned them on the lathe. Pics attached. I assume that you figured out that this was just the beginning of the dowel making process.

Enjoy,

JimB
 

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John you can make them on your router table. Wood magazine had an article a while back showing how to do it. I have not tried it but it looks like it would work really great. Google making dowels on the router table, and you will get a lot of information.
 
Thanks for the replys. I need 21/2" so my plug cutters wont work. There only 1" or 11/2". Might just go with the store bought ones and glue in a 1/4" long plug. The wood I'm going into is 1" thick. So I think I'll be ok.
 
I know some stores carry hardwood dowels in different species (such as cherry), might check around. I think there was a youtube video of a guy using a home made jig consisting of a couple of hack saw blades and a drill you might google. They were actually coming out pretty round, but not sure how consistent they were on dimensions.
 
I'm not clear on what you want to do, but if you want something that will cut the end of your stock to round it to a dowel shape, but is limited in length, try a search for a "hollow auger". You can find old ones that are adjustable to the diameter you want. They are designed for use in a brace, so they tend to have a square end to fit the chuck. They work surprisingly well.

The end of the stock must be sufficiently pointed to fit into the auger to begin the cut. For a few pieces, a knife or chisel works for this task, but if you want many, search for a "spoke pointer", another old tool designed for that task.
 
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