Making a dowell on Table Saw

[The Wolf]

If you start with a square stock and make an octgagon and keep going won't it eventually turn into a round dowel 1-1/4"

Anyone done this? What are the angles?

Thanks.

[Doug Miller]

It's a lot safer to use a lathe -- or simply buy a 1 1/4" dowel. Most home centers and hardware stores will sell them. Just ask for closet pole.

[upand_at_them]

A dozen or so years ago I built a 3-legged stool (which I still use). It was made from scrap wood and the plans called for round, and tapered, legs. Not having many tools, I made up 1.5"x1.5" leg blanks and turned them into dowels with just a hand plane. A V-block can hold the blank, but I think I just my B&D Workmate.

If you're tying to do this on a table saw I would discourage it. How do you plan on holding the wood to cut off the corners? This could get pretty dangerous.

MK

[Lee]

lol Do a Google for the type of wood and see if dowels are available OR use the trusty method of sanding. Last time I looked the angle is 360 :))

I am currently working on toothpicks from 24-26" Dia. oak I cut down this year. So far 123 sheets of 40 grit paper and still have only got to 13" dia. Not taking orders though so don't ask for some.

NO REASON TO GET PO,D' I'm just tossing in a bit of humor..

[A.M. Wood]

That will work. But it's gonna take lots & lots of cuts and that last one is gonna have a mighty small edge to work with. Enjoy your fingers while you still have them.

AMW

[Andy]

I agree - never tried it and never heard of it being done, but the TS sounds difficult and potentially dangerous. I've reduced the diameter of dowels with a spokeshave and sandpaper - not too difficult. I've also heard it's possible to use a router table with a straight bit - basically rotating square stock past the spinning bit. Try googling the web or this group's archives for 'router table dowel making' and variations on that theme. Also possible using a roundover bit, but

5/8" radius isn't a common size, and I'd guess you'd still need some sanding. It'd be easier to sand if you could somehow chuck it up in a drill press, if you don't have a lathe. Good luck, Andy

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

A lathe is cheaper,and anyway I'd get extremely bored.

[else24]

I've made tool handles that way. No, you can't make it round. Sooner or later you'll be sending a piece through the saw that won't have enough of a flat face and it'll want to roll and it won't feel safe. I settled for a piece with many flat sides. In fact I liked that feel more than round, but that's probably not important here. My point is, there's a point somewhere between flat and round when it gets scary and you won't want to do it any more, and if you do, you could probably get hurt.

Amana sells router bits with a 5/8 inch radius and probably others do too. I'd go that route. Four passes. I've seen TV articles on diynet where the artist made his dowels that way. The process looked safe and the dowels looked good.

You could also make a simple box with nails at each end to hold the stock, and put a router on a board above the piece, and you've got a very simple, primitive router lathe. That's in one of my router books.

Or you could go really primitive and get a drawknife. They make surprisingly good dowels in a surprisingly short time. But you might need more precision than that. :-)

But no, in my experience the table saw will, uh, cut corners, but not make nice round dowels.

[CW]

Works just fine. Make a sled with two uprights. The uprights need to have nails through them and into the end of the stock. Just like mounting something between centers on a lathe. Need to rig up a clamp to keep it from turning as you cut. Take a cut, turn it a bit, take another cut until done. Faster on the router table though. Same kind of rig but you can turn the stock against the router bit.

[Puckdropper]

[e-mail] (The Wolf) wrote in news:1hmwj3k.y1j1by19mqptkN% [e-mail]:

In theory, it would work. A circle by definition is a series of points equidistant from the center.

However, it's not very practical. I'd probably stop when I got to an octagon if I was making a handle or something.

Puckdropper

[Prometheus]

Nope.

45, 67.5, 78.75, 84.375, 87.188, then sandpaper might work (halve the angles starting with 45 [45, 22.5, 11.25, 5.625, etc] and add that to the previous setting each time.)

But I wouldn't do it- it's dangerous nonsense, IMO. Especially when a dowel at the hardware store only costs a couple of bucks. If I needed it in a specific hardwood, the lathe would be the first choice, and a drawknife would be the second. Pick the right tools for the job, and your fingers will thank you in the end.

[Leon]

The closer you come to round the harder it will be to keep the piece from rotating during the cut.

[george]

Table saw sounds dangerous. I made some interesting shaped dowels using a router and round over bit. They can be seen at the bottom of this web page:

[SonomaProducts.com]

Here is a realy dangerous and cool trick.

1. Get a piece of PVC pipe about 8" long. In your case lets say 2" diameter

1. Cut a length of wood about a foot or more longer than you need the dowel. Size it square so that it just fits inside the pipe but rotates easily.

2. Mount the pipe on a board (use your imagination) and mount the board on a table of most any cutting tool TS, Router, RAS, even bandsaw. Mount it so the stock is running perpendicular to the blade (if using a saw) and so the edges of the wood barely contact the teeth.

1. Run the tool and rotate the stock and move it in and out past the balde nicking of the edges.

2. Now either move the pipe or raise the balde\bit depending on the tool and run the stock round and in and out again.

1. Rinse and repeat until you have the size you want.

P.S. you can also get real fancy and have the pipe on both side of the cutting area for better stability.

The Wolf wrote:

[Roger Shoaf]

Why not make a dowel the way they made them in the olden days. Find yourself a chunk of steel plate and drill a hole the size you want your dowel.

Now counter sink the hole.

Pound a square(ish) stick through the hole. It will come out round. It will also slightly compress the wood fibers and the moisture from the glue will cause it to swell for a nice snug fit.

Or you can buy one, but you would have to make a lot of dowels to pay for it: