PVC pipe jig to make axles

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Ive seen a hint in a magazine how to turn dowels on a tablesaw and make MT joinery.
I took it one step further, since I put wooden wheels on some of my outdoor furniture(lounges, bbq carts) and I like to use wooden axles, not readily available in the species of wood I use for the outdoor furniture.
I could pay someone with a lathe to turn long blocks into nice round ends for wheels, but I just took a piece of pvc pipe, size is relatively unimportant, the pvc comes in a ton of sizes. For my practice jig, I used what I had laying around.
Cut a piece of scrap to fit inside the pvc, snug fit, tapped in with a rubber mallet, and I can always put a countersunk screw in to hold in place.
Put a scrap of plywood on table, clamped it down, raised the blade a bit, placed the fence at how long I want each end to be.
Then I just made sure my hands where plenty clear of the blade, and just turned the pvc pipe around and around, letting the blade trim off the excess, raised the blade a bit more, did both sides again. Just kept turning the pipe, I got two nice ends that I can drill a one inch hole through the wheels and attach to frame of furniture.
dont have to buy any dowels, which are rather costly, and like I stated, cant find PT dowels, or redwood, red cedar, white oak, etc.....now I just need a piece of 6/4 or 2x4, and stick it into the pvc, then rotate and out comes a perfect axle.(I will sand it perfect when I make one to use)
 

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looks like it works!

but just to question the safty abit.. have you had the table saw grab the piece in the pipe and have its way with it? i can see where if it got ahold of it just right you could be ducking the pipe and the axel both.. unless you have the pipe anchored solid to your plywood base. :dunno: just dont want to see you postin later on her about a flying object that got loose:) i have had a 2ftx 3ft flat piece of plywood go sailing buy the table saw gettin its way and that aint purty,, i had to change my diaper after that one:D
 
the dado blades would work faster, but they werent in the machine.
Larry, I dont raise the blade that high or fast, I felt nothing insecure, while Im turning the pipe, I also apply slight pressure, the blade is just skimming the wood. Ofcourse I could figure out some type of guard to clamp down so the pipe couldnt fly off the table, but I did a few sample axles and never had the piece feel unsecure.
I roll the pipe under the palms of my hands, good distance from the blade, apply both circular motion and downward force, like rolling flour dough, just keep the pipe against the plywood, actually pretty simple.
 
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