Dowel maker

Dowels are something I very, very rarely use but I bought one of these a while back for the 'just in case I need to make a dowel in a hurry' occasion, which occurred today.

I needed to make a short 9mm plug for a misdrilled hole, but the nearest dowel I had was 12mm. Alas, this tool has only 8 and 10mm, so I sanded a cone on the front of the 12mm dowel on the belt sander to fit the hole as a starter and then made a 10mm and turned it down on a belt sander with the spinning drill still holding the dowel.

I ended up making two dowels as I overdid the first one a fraction on the belt sander.

The dowel maker worked fine both times.

Good value for very little money.

There's lots of them on the internet at all sorts of prices but this one is probably around the cheapest. Pretty sure I paid a bit more.

Adjustable Round Tenon Cutter Compact Doweling Jig Dowel Maker Woodworking Tool | eBay

An interesting gadget. Wonder how many of these are sitting in sheds unused? The sort of impulse buy many of us make I think. I have seen home-made dowel cutters made on a pencil-sharpener pattern and using a chisel as the cutter. This one looks like it uses carbide cutters oriented more in a scraping orientation. As a traditional woodturner I would suggest that the peeling cut would produce a better result on many timbers but it would be hard to come up with a single jig to do such a range of sizes.
But if your main use is plugging holes - maybe a plug cutter is better. Those allow the cutting of cross- grain plugs the blend better in most situations.

I bought exactly the same thing last week in with another collection of woodworking and electrical tools from Temu. Haven't tried it yet, but it looks good and feels solid. I got a very nice Japanese pull saw from them in the same order - much better than the one I have had for a long time. Some of the gear on Temu is quite good - a lot is direct copy of Woodpeckers and seems the same quality at a fraction of the price. Have just ordered a small torque wrench from them as my big Kinchrome one doesn't go below 60 ft/lb and I need to go as low as 14 ft/lb for something I have been working on lately.

I’ve looked at them but was disappointed they didn’t have a 1/4 “ or close metric sized hole. I use a lot of 1/4” dowel .
I made my own 1/4 inch jig below which works good but being timber they do wear out . Got to try and make one with brass or steel entry and exit guides instead of wood.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4zMVh9g...RlODBiNWFlZA==

I have been using a Dowel plate for 50 years, don't see any reason to change.

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Originally Posted by auscab

I’ve looked at them but was disappointed they didn’t have a 1/4 “ or close metric sized hole.

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Robert,
This one of a different design has a 6mm sleeve and it looks like it might be fairly straight forward to make up and adjust imperial sleeves for whatever size dowel you want under 12mm.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004771436639.html

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Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Robert,
This one of a different design has a 6mm sleeve and it looks like it might be fairly straight forward to make up and adjust imperial sleeves for whatever size dowel you want under 12mm.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004771436639.html

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Nice thanks Franklin . I have never seen that one before.

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Originally Posted by auscab

Nice thanks Franklin . I have never seen that one before.

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Love the video Rob, I'm going to have to come up with a jig to do this, or should I just buy one?....

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Originally Posted by BMKal

a lot is direct copy of Woodpeckers and seems the same quality at a fraction of the price.

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Woodpeckers dowel press costs $399 US.... So yep much cheaper route!

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Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

Love the video Rob, I'm going to have to come up with a jig to do this, or should I just buy one?....

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Hi Sam.
I'd just buy one if the sizes are right for you.
I never use them for making dowels to build a joint with . I use them for pegging the tenons.

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Originally Posted by 419

Dowels are something I very, very rarely use but I bought one of these a while back for the 'just in case I need to make a dowel in a hurry' occasion, which occurred today.

I needed to make a short 9mm plug for a misdrilled hole, but the nearest dowel I had was 12mm. Alas, this tool has only 8 and 10mm, so I sanded a cone on the front of the 12mm dowel on the belt sander to fit the hole as a starter and then made a 10mm and turned it down on a belt sander with the spinning drill still holding the dowel.

I ended up making two dowels as I overdid the first one a fraction on the belt sander.

The dowel maker worked fine both times.

Good value for very little money.

There's lots of them on the internet at all sorts of prices but this one is probably around the cheapest. Pretty sure I paid a bit more.

Adjustable Round Tenon Cutter Compact Doweling Jig Dowel Maker Woodworking Tool | eBay

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Not often I use dowels and for the rare times I need something of a specific size I knock up something on the lathe. The price of that however has me thinking I may give it a punt. May be handy now and then. The cutters look the same as my thicknesser takes as well.
Regards
John