woodgears.ca/dowel/making.html The pencil sharpener method of making dowels. Produces surprisingly accurate dowels, though it helps to start with something fairly round to begin with.
The spiral in the dowels is an advantage because it will allow the dowels to seat themselves better in the joint. Well done mate and thank you for all of your fantastic videos!
you know, its always nice to come across such a fine example of creativity and ingenuity and pure genius among all this other crap on youtube. I really want to try this but I doubt I will anytime soon
Awesome, everything is so simple. My first thought was "I don't have a 3/8 shank lying around" (epiphany) drill bit! Thanks. Second aha so simple was after you ran the dowel thru the sharpener I thought "oh just cut off the part that you chucked, but no! Re-position the drill, duh. You make me smarter everytime I watch, thanks!
thanks, for this tip, it helped me a lot to make my dowels with walnut and maple for my Simplicity woodgear clock. it works well after a couple of adjustments. it is easy and simple. the 31 people who doesn't like it probably don't do any woodworking or they prefer to buy cheap 48" dowels. Every tip is good and it increase the knowledge of a woodworker
Thanks, all the tutors on line sharing their knowledge. Your video brought a lot of understanding. I made one today and stopped using the dangerous method I had been using, and it wasn't very successful anyways. Now, I just made 4 70cm long dowels for a crib I am building, and out of mahogany none the less! Can't buy them around here! Thanks you!
Great Video! This will give you the oportunity to make dowels of any size and not have to stck with standard sizes. I have made my own dowels in the past by hammering a square piece of timber through a hole in a pice of steel but I like this method better.
Hi, Mathias, you probably already know this, but there is a way to make dowels with a router, especially a plunge base router with a fine adjustment. Basically two pieces of plywood, one with an entry hole, and one with an exit hole, all the holes lined up, with two spacer blocks between them, which allows room for the straight router bit, and all the shavings. The diameter of the entry hole is the diagonal of your square stock. The diagonal of a square is 1.414 times the length of any side.
My box was made from 2 pieces of 4x2 joined with a full length piano hinge on one side and 3 pinned latches on the other. It is important to make sure the box cannot pop open or allow the dowel to flex inside. Shafts were 32" long when first made and the box was approx 3" longer (1.5" each end, extra) with the nut and bearing inner recessed with a press fit and glued in either end. Threaded rod was long enough to fit through entire length + enough for the drill chuck to clamp onto the shaft.
Leave it to you to make your own dowel cutter. That's basically what that tool from Lee Valley is, except it has a rounded blade, plus with yours you can vary the size by just drilling different sized holes. Good work. I'll have to give that a try before ordering a special tool to make dowels.
Yes, have seen most of his videos. He has a lot of neat ideas, especially about making wooden threads. Though I think this method of making dowels is more elegant than the ones he has tried.
I was thinking more about the drill side, than the chisel side...but I guess leaving an inch of square stock and rounding the rest might be an option. This only really matters if you'd want bigger than 1/2" dowel anyway. Anything smaller you could always chuck up like you have done in the video. Thanks for responding. Keep up the great work.
Matthias, i found your canal by random watching on YT. I'm so impressed of effects your works and your passion! Please don't stop sharing of your talent!! I think that You inspire soooo many people, and i'm one of them:) I whish you many many success Matthias! Amaizing man, amazing brain - THAT'S JUST INSANE !!
I have tried it, I used to make my own arrow shafts using this technique. We mainly did it to burnish finish the shafts but it sized then perfectly every time. Good hinges (piano) full length are the best and you do need to get the rough shaft size fairly close (tolerance you are getting is fine). When used as a dowel, we added a glue grove by putting a sharp spike (ground screw) immediately after the bearing. Hole up the middle needs to be a good fit to stop flex as the shaft is pushed through.
you are very good at problem solving. I wish my mind had a "bent" for stuff like this. I can generally solve a problem I have in woodworking (inferior dowels for example) but it comes to me as an "epiphany" when I am doing something else. Then I either have to stop and write it down or risk "losing" it by trying to remember. *Sigh* such is the life of an old man.
first your idea is really great, my coworker taught me another one... first drill the hole in a piece of metal plate that should be the same size as dowel holes in wood, than you just hammer wooden sticks through that hole in the piece of metal...fits like a glove:) you cant make them as long as you did, but its easier when you're in a hurry
Freakin' genius! And it looks like such fun. I gotta feeling I'd be out thére making unnecessary dowels out of scrap wood just for the entertainment. Thanks for the video!
Finish dowels accurate & burnished. Piano hinge 2 pieces of wood 3" longer than your dowels with a hole up the middle for dowel to fit in, add strong latches to close. Fit old bearing inner (size you want dowel finished) in one end. Fit nut+threaded rod in other end. Close box with dowel inside then with drill attached to rod, wind the rod pressing the dowel through the bearing inner for a perfect size. Add a small spike/blade sticking up if you want a glue groove up the dowel as well.
Well cheers buddy! I learned of finger boards; and some other stuff with your dowel turning process. That will also help me with making a quick hammer handle too. Its funny how many hammers my acquaintances throw out when they somehow break the handle. I watched this as it is very hard to get 1" dowels for my furniture and curtain rod costs a packet!
Great videos, Matthias! Just one question about the dowels - the ones I buy have grooves in them to allow the glue past and prevent hydraulic locking. Do you add grooves to yours or aren't they necessary?
@Matthiaswandel Keep in mind I'm not a woodworker and have never purchased dowels. Would it be easier and/or more cost effective to buy a bigger size dowel and turn it down to size using your "pencil sharpener" method? I used to be a huge fan of the New Yankee Workshop. The dowels I used to see Norm use looked like they had splines on the sides (grooves going lengthwise). I assume having these splines allows them to be pressed into a tight hole easier and allow room for glue.
What do you think the limits are on creating larger diameter dowels? I have successfully created 8mm dowels like this but tried making a 20mm dowel and it did not come out very even/straight. Having said that I did not try too hard.. I used a fairly hard wood and could probably have trimmed the corners down a bit more.
I've read where it's really even simpler than this. If you start with 1/2" square stock, for example and want to make 1/2" dowel, you simply chuck in your router a 1/4" radius bit and run the wood through. Just make sure that you keep a couple of inches of the square stock at the ends so that the wood can register off of your table and won't be rolling around. I haven't tried this but seems like it would be accurate, after all, the router bits are machined to close tolerences.
Hi, Good ideal. I use a metal pipe thread maker and it worked fine for me.I have a full set off them so many size off dowels. Square your wood, pointed at the end, put on your drill and pushed inside to the thread maker, sanded and voilà.
What makes you think I have not tried it out and why would I suggest it if I haven't. Myself and a few other archers I know, use (for me now "used") this technique in the making of arrows and if I still had my box, would shoot a quick video for you. First the pressed burnish made a far smoother shaft assisting a smoother release on traditional rests, second, faster and more accurate sizing than sanding alone, this also contributed to more accurate spline measurement of the shafts.
This comment made me have to mention that maybe you could chuck the square stock into a over-sized socket bit in your drill instead of having to use the router at all, but that would require making the opening diameter equal to the hypotenuse of the square stock. Just an idea.
