jewelry box

[WARRENRN1]

i am finally getting around to making my wife the jewelry box she has asked for.... between work and helping my son with his car....i think i can turn it into a xmas gift..... anyways..... it is made with wavy maple...with have a tung oil finish, but for accent, i want to peg out the sides....where can i get some 1/4 inch dowels made of some DARK wood....doesn't have to be exotic, but to set off the maple....

[Silvan]

Easy thing is to get a plug cutter and make little short dowels. Heck, if you don't want to spend the money, tell me how many you need, and I'll make you some out of walnut. I have lots of odd little scraps laying around.

I can only make short ones because I have small, cheap plug cutters, but they make nice accents where you don't need a long dowel for structural reasons. Or buy a better plug cutter than I have, some dark wood of your choice, and go nuts. If you like using contrasting wood as much as I do, you'll probably be glad to have them, because you'll use them frequently. I plan to get a much better set soon.

[Nova]

Here's one place:

Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[Andy Dingley]

I hate cutting dowels, especially with a plug cutter. Lots of hassle, and you only make a tiny piece. Handy for cross-grain screw covers, not so much for dowels.

I rip square stock on the badsaw, then plane it octagonal. I chop it down to 6" lengths, then force it through a dowel plate.

The dowel plate is home made, from a snip of old power hacksaw blade. Anneal it, drill pairs or triples of holes in a range of sizes. Use a tapered reamer to put some "draw" on the backs of the holes. Use a needle file to convert one or two of each size to a star shaped hole. Heat, re-harden and temper only slightly (pale straw). Hammer the dowel through from the narrow side, using the star-hole first, then the round hole to finish.

I made this today:

's parana pine, about 16" long, and intended as a replica of a late medieval Baltic coast trader's chest (Sarah is a silversmith who does Ye Olde Ren & Stimpy Fayres). The open tenons on the sides and the coopered top are pegged down with little 1/8" bamboo pegs. I agonised for a few milliseconds over using bamboo, but it comes in a packet of nice ready-rounded dowels, sold as barbecue skewers. For thicker pegs, I keep my chopsticks from the local noodle shop.

Next step is to wrap it in oilcloth, which I'm making myself to a 17th century Pennsylvania recipe - linseed boiled with lead oxide and manganese dioxide driers.

-- Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

[Slowhand]

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