# Shopmade Dowel



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

This is interesting.
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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

That's pretty dang cool, C-man.

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

Trying to see how he attached the stock to the drill. It looks like he split the stock to insert a spade bit and clamped it on with a hose clamp? Look right to you?
I've made short ones on the router table but you are limited in length and may not be the safest method going.


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## dmh (Sep 18, 2010)

jschaben said:


> Trying to see how he attached the stock to the drill. It looks like he split the stock to insert a spade bit and clamped it on with a hose clamp? Look right to you?


 
I was wondering the same thing. I watched it full screen and paused it as he laid the drill down. Looks just like what you described.

What type of blades is he using? I think a couple sawzall blades might work also.

Great video :thumbsup:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

dmh said:


> What type of blades is he using? I think a couple sawzall blades might work also.
> 
> Great video :thumbsup:


I think that's what he used.












 







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## dmh (Sep 18, 2010)

cabinetman said:


> I think that's what he used.


 
They look a lot more expensive than the ones I buy. Probably why I didn’t recognize them.:1eye:

My dowel would have a yellow or white paint stripe twisting down it.:laughing:

Thanks again for the sharing the video!


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*hmmmm*

He started with a dowel then claims to make a dowel. Well he did, only a smaller one. Interesting technique however. :yes: bill


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

woodnthings said:


> He started with a dowel then claims to make a dowel. Well he did, only a smaller one. Interesting technique however. :yes: bill


 
Looked to me like he started with a piece of square stock, cut to the right size and sharpend/tapered the end some to get it started. :smile:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

jschaben said:


> Looked to me like he started with a piece of square stock, cut to the right size and sharpend/tapered the end some to get it started. :smile:


That's the way it looked to me too.












 







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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Now that is an excellent idea. I'd imagine the manufacturing process for making "real" dowels isn't too much different. Almost an extrusion process as opposed to a lathing process.



jschaben said:


> Trying to see how he attached the stock to the drill. It looks like he split the stock to insert a spade bit and clamped it on with a hose clamp? Look right to you?


Exactly what he did.

And yes, he did start with square stock.


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## Visions (Jun 16, 2011)

I blew up the video on my 42" 1080i TV, and he's definitely starting with square stock. And as well, that's a spade bit and a hose clamp he uses on the second dowel.

Not sure what he's using for blades, looks wide for a sawz-all blade, but I'm not really sure. I wasn't really looking at it either, to be honest.

But, I did try this as soon as I saw it using a demolition blade I had for my sawz-all, and it does work. But i think a better blade would give a smoother result, as the demo blade dowel was a bit rough. Not real bad, 150 grit would clean it up, but it could be better.

I've also seen blades for the Bosch "power hand saw" at Lowes in the Sawz-All blade section, and they look like they would do very well in this application. 

Thanks for posting, really neat video!

Wayne


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## Visions (Jun 16, 2011)

After looking again, it's not a sawz-all blade. It's a Japanese pull saw blade by the looks, and a small one at that.

Right in the very beginning you can see it clearly, for maybe the first 10 seconds. It's clearly a Japanese pull saw blade of some sort that has been removed from it's handle. You can see what I believe is Japanese writing on the blade and the spot where the handle attaches, and it's not a sawz-all blade by any means.

Wayne


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## Visions (Jun 16, 2011)

Here is another video from the same guy making a larger dowel using a bandsaw, though it uses the same principle.






And this is a method I really like, using a hand-drill, a simple jig and a 2 flute straight bit on the router table to make dowels. Looks to work very well also.





Although I do admire greatly the ingenuity in making the simple jig from a wooden block and a saw blade. It just doesn't get any simpler or easier than that! Truly a great idea.

Wayne


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## yocalif (Nov 11, 2010)

Yo all,

I really appreciated "Cabinetman" starting this thread with that video. I had to make some dowels today for some delicate picture frames. I had some store bought 1/4", but I needed a smaller size 11/64, I couldn't use much bigger. Anyway after watching the OP's video, that was enough info to try and make a quick jig for making a dowel.

This is a quick cobbled together jig. I drilled the 11/64 hole in a small piece rectangular piece of hardwood, took a new jig saw blade, locked the block in a vice (with the block slightly below the top of the vice, mounted the blade so 1 tooth was dead even with the hole. Secured the blade with two small clamps, one clamp locking the blade down the other pushing the blade into the vice & holding that position. The blade's teeth pointing toward the opposite the direction the drill turns.

I made small squarish pieces 5/16" x 6", to secure in the drill I tapered the end about 1/2" and screwed it into a electric wire nut (using a utility knife), to keep the piece from turning in the wire nut in case it didn't hold I drilled a tiny hole through the wire nut and the square piece and shoved a tiny brad type nail thru. Also tapered the other end of the rough stock to start in the 11/64th hole.

Using my cordless drill, the setup worked ok. A little trial and error will solve some of the basic problems but I was able to quickly make enough dowels for 4 picture frames.


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