My solution to a recent problem.

[TwoGuns]

I am just a tinkerer in the workshop. Recently I was working on a project that required a groove in the end of a one inch round dowell. As luck would have it the groove needed to be within a few thousands of the cut of one of my stiff backed saws and about five inches down the length of the dowell. I tried several different way of doing this cut but I couldn't keep the saw blade from wandering. Finally I made up my own jig and it works great. There are probably many solutions to this problem but this is what I came up with.

I had a piece of scrap 1'x 4"x4" soft pine. I used my T-Square to mark perpendicular lines on all four sides of the 4"x4" and a parallel line to the sides right down the middle. Where the lines crossed I drilled a hole using a one inch Forstner bit chucked up in my Mini- Mill ( a lot more powerful than my drill press). I drilled the one inch hole through the top of the 4"x4" and then I sawed across the

4"x4" two inches deep, following my marked lines exactly. This gave me a perfect groove to place my saw exactly in the middle of my 1" dowell. I then drilled a hole on each of the sides of the 4"x4" that allowed me to tap a 3/8" diameter hole with 1/2" wood threads. I then used my 1/'2" wood dies to thread two six inch dowells. This allows me to stick a one inch dowell into the 4"x4" and screw the two dowells on the sides in from the sides to hold the one inch dowell firmly in place. An 8 inch C-Clamp lets me clamp the jig to my workbench solidly. I can then place the saw in the groove I had previously cut across the top with the one inch dowell down in the hole about an inch from the top of the 4"x4". This allows me to start a perfectly centered cut across the top of the one inch dowell. After the initial cut I just loosen the dowells on the sides and push the one inch dowell up the hole and continue my cuts until I have reached the depth I need. I have used this homemade jig on several Oak, pine and Maple dowells and it worked great on all of them so far.

There may be better ways to do this and I would love to know how others have solved this problem.

Dennis

[mac davis]

Not sure that I understand what you were making for that precision, but I'm glad it worked..

I used to sell big "tinker toy" sets using dowels and they needed a slot in the center for a snug fit in the holes.. We threw together a sliding block on the band saw with a hole the size of the dowel diameter and just put a dowel in, slid it into the blade until it hit the stop.. that made a thin cut in the center of the dowel end, about 3/8" deep..

On stuff with wider slots, you just drill a hole in a piece of 1x4" or whatever, set the table saw blade to the right height and slide the whole "jig" along the fence.. YMWV

mac

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