After some experiments to make some pointy dowels I'm hoping to find a source for readymade. I need them 6 inches long by 3/4 inch diameter, with about a four inch taper down to a 3/16 inch point, or something close. Basically a pointy stick. I've been all over the web and haven't found anything close.
Or if you have suggestions for making these from 3/4 inch dowels in a repeatable manner. Using a lathe seems like overkill (especially since I don't have one or know how to use one), I was thinking maybe the dowel could be chucked into a drill press and a file/rasp pressed against it at an angle.
It would be a lot easier if I could just buy them. ;-)
Damon, here's my idea on how to point the dowel. First of all this is just conjecture, never tried this method. Take a look at a pencil sharpener, the type kids use that have a small razor blade in the molded plastic. I believe you could use a block plane iron in a wooden jig to achieve what you want. Another wild idea would be to use a router or laminate trimmer on a ramp. You would have to make a device to hold the dowel and turn one end by hand while routing on the ramp.
I'm no woodworker so I had to lookup what a "block plane iron" was. I like the pencil sharpener idea, any ideas on how to rotate the dowel against the iron? Is there an attachment for a hand drill that would allow the 3/4" dowel to be turned by the drill?
How bout some kind of attachment for a drill press to hold and spin the dowel, the iron would be on a block setting on the drill press deck, the spinning dowel would be pressed down onto the blade, the drill press would also allow repeatable movement so the dowels could come out the same each time. I think that could work! Is there such an attachment to a drill? I've done some googling but don't know the terminology well enough to do a proper search.
Thanks, and anyone else with ideas I'd like to hear them. (I'd still prefer to find a ready made source)
Pretty amazing that you have admitting posting a query on how to make a "pointy stick" and have not gotten flamed but, have gotten resonable replies. *smile*
Close...but, kind of awkward...
Indeed....there is always that question of what to throw at a project - Time or Money.
Here is a way to do it if you have a sander of some sort (belt would be good, 9" disk would be great, ROS would be ok). 1) Drill a hole the size of the dowel through a block of scrap wood. 2x4 stock is great for this. 2) In the case of the ROS or beltsander...clamp the tool to your bench so that the sanding surface is about 90 degrees to the bench. This is a tad easier if you have one of those 9" disk/6x48" sander combo units. 3) Clamp the block you drilled to the table/bench so that a dowel stuck through it will angle into the sanding surface at JUST enough of an angle to end up with a 4" long taper. 4) put some fairly coarse grit paper on the sander...30 grit or so. You mainly want to hog off material now. 5) fire up the sander. 6) Push the dowel through the block until it touches the sanding surface. Rotate constantly. For a ROS, you probably will need a FAIRLY light touch. Dust collection would be a VERY good thing too. Sand until the taper is close to what you need. 7) repeat step 6 until all dowels are tapered. 8) change the sandpaper to a finer grit...120/200, something like that. 9) Resand the dowels to their final surface and size.
As a woodturner, I would suggest investing in a mini-lathe and a chuck. Jet has a fairly nice one that can be gotten for $200 or so at most Woodcraft stores. That will be the fastest and easiest way (after the learning curve) to make these things. a nice, wide scraper, properly sharpened, will do it in no time. The sanding method, while workable WILL be slow and produce a cloud of dust. Dave Mundt
Thanks Dave for the detailed suggestions, I do have access to a large belt sander so I'll try making a jig as you suggest, basically creating a big pencil sharpener.
Since a picture is worth a lot of words, here is a pic of what I need.
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needs to be fairly tough, so hardwood, Poplar dowels are quite a bit cheaper than oak, but seem strong enough.
I'm wondering if anyone out there would be interested in making these? I'd be willing to buy 100 pieces to start. If anyone wants to quote a price please send me email to damon(AT)linkpro(DOT)net. I'm located in Memphis, TN.
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