Thread: Safe way to cut 6mm dowels

Clamp a stop block 11mm from end of bench hook, cut with a hack saw or copping saw or tenon saw

Merry Christmas

Clamp a jigsaw upside down in a vice make up a mini sled
I guess sharp secs tears wouldn't do it.
hmm let me finish the next red wine and come back to you

I'd be doing it on a bandsaw. Hold it with some pliers to keep your fingers clear and you should be done in 5 mins

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

I'd be doing it on a bandsaw. Hold it with some pliers to keep your fingers clear and you should be done in 5 mins

Yes the bandsaw, but what about a small sled with a vee block to locate the dowel square & to length....

Another vote for the bandsaw, if you have one.

I'd drill a 6mm or 1/4" hole in a 20mm long square piece of wood and attach/glue to a scrap of wood on the mitre gauge, cut through the middle, remove the 2 halves and repeat 49 times.

If I am to save as much as possible of the dowel then Japanese pull saw, using a bench hook

What Christos Said

Hi Dengue,
The Easiest Way of all is to, with a piece of say 7 x 4 x ¼in. & no need to clamp it really. Run the Bandsaw longways through the centre, by about 1in. Just let it sit there & away you go. You could put a rubber band around the end, so as they all stay together.
I have done this many times.
Now I'm talking about a 6TPI. Blade, definitely not 4TPI.
You will find this so easy.
If you don't feel it is safe enough, then clamp the piece.

I'd drill a hole through an 11mm (10 or 12mm would be ok too) thick bit of timber, pop your dowel in and then cut it with a Jap pull saw or tenon saw. The next dowel
pops out the bit in the timber and you do again. I have tried a few things on the bandsaw and they are very hard to hold without them
flying around the workshop

Axe & chopping block.

But asking me near the bewitching hour after Xmas lunch & dinner, & a few beers, & some fortified wine trifle etc etc probably isn't going the get the best suggestion, I might well do it different tomorrow.

TV show version:

Drill 50 x 6mm holes in piece of scrap 2x1 at 12mm deep. [Only need to show few seconds of this tedious task]
Insert dowel in each hole. [Ditto - Outsource rest to children]
Run masking tape across dowels to hold them after cutting. [Show this, looks easy]
Pass favourite saw along top of wood, cutting all 50 dowels in a few seconds. [Glory shot]
Hold tape with 50 cutoff dowels attached in air [Eureka - Smile at camera like you have a fresh caught marlin]

Good luck!

I do it the same way that christos does.

image-3485807749.jpg

Pliers with a razor blade is what I use

G'day Joe. I use a slightly different method. Do you have a multi-tool? (Dremel MultiMax, Renovator etc)
It cuts surprisingly cleanly, with no splintering, if you don't push and let the tool do the work.

Dowel Cutting.jpg

I used to have an M6 bolt through it, but it's easiest/quickest to simply clamp it in the vice.

Edit: The extra-small hole is 2.5mm, for bamboo skewers.