# Making Octagonal Dowell



## fleasome (Feb 3, 2011)

Please forgive me if I'm using the wrong term but I'm pretty much a newbie and totally unskilled. I've had a bunch of toys for years and done a lot of little projects for fun but had no real training outside of shop class about 32 years ago in Junior High.

What I'm looking to make are these octagon shaped sticks about 6" long or so. The width is from 3/4-1".

I have several saws; table, scroll, miter, band, etc and presume this would be best achieved on a table saw, but again I'm uneducated.

How would I do the math to produce a near perfect octagonal dowel, if that would be the correct word and presumably produce a jig to do so? I'd also like make 'thicker' version for another project but all would be in octagon format.

A friend of mine made the ones pictured below a while back, however I noted that each side of the octagon are different. In fact they are noticeably NOT close. I think this would just be a fun learning project for me.

Thanks for pointing me anywhere useful or any tips in advance.

Lee


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## JMC'sLT30 (Oct 26, 2010)

Hi Lee and welcome to the forum. My tool of choice would be a Hitachi 3 1/4" hand held edge joiner (just the brand I have). First you need to make a seat base for it, I use a 6x6 about 16" long. Put a V cut on a 45 degree bevel in the center the full length arround 1" wide. Attach a peice of stock 1/4"x1-1/2"x3" accross the V at one end therefore creating a stop. Get your desired round dowel stock likely 1", cut to desired lengths. Place one in the V against the stop,adjust the joiner depth to just shy of 1/8" (may have to adjust for equal cutting). Keep in mind that the hitachi tool has a v groove on the table surface that can help or hinder you, if you are paying attention and not rushing it can help guide you on a smooth cut. Make your first cut roll at 180 degrees second cut roll at 45 degrees third cut 180 again, then just bed the flats into the V and do the other four cuts. Hope this helps.
James:icon_smile:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

*WELCOME TO THE FORUM*

It would be fairly simple to do this on a table saw. Starting with square stock which would have to be wider that the distance between two flats of the octagon.

In this diagram:
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The thickness of the stock should be at least what the 1 to 5 dimension is.

Setting up the saw, the side (5) would ride against the fence.

Side (7) rides on the tablesaw table.

Side (8) is cut with the blade @ 45_°. _On a left tilt saw. Angle (8/7).

Rotating the stock to side (4), side (7) is cut. Angle (7/6)...etc.












 









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## Ahlem (Nov 28, 2010)

I'd consider making an 8 pin fluting jig and running your parts that way.
Simply put, you spin a plywood circle and create 8 holes evenly spaced at 45 degrees. You have a pin that you can push through a fixed point into the holes that holds the part in increments of 45 degrees. Depending on what you plan on cutting the flats with, router table, radial arm saw, table saw etc, you design the rest of the fixture around adequate safe clearances. You might find a router table to be a pretty good option for safety.
You pre drill both the ends of your parts and use a long screw to go through the indexing circle and rest on vee-blocks on one end and just into the vee-block on the other. You pass the soon to be octagon part over the router bit enough times to create the flat spot. If you want to be really cool, you make an air hockey type fixture to float on the table of your router. You can offset the height of the vee blocks from end to end and get a tapered octagon part that will amaze and impress small children and non-mechanical types.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*What ever your jig*

Make it to accept a 12" length rather than repeating that operation 8 times for each 6" piece. The safest tool I've head mentioned so far, is the bandsaw and an indexing fixture with stops or pins at 45 degrees or a "V" groove to index from rather than tilting the table to 45 degrees, but that's no biggy.
The biggest issue I see is that it's a rather small dia and there's not a lot of room for fingers to hold on or guide it. So the jig that securley holds it while the operation is performed or a simple reference fixture where the piece can not shift is best.  bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

woodnthings said:


> The safest tool I've head mentioned so far, is the bandsaw and an indexing fixture with stops or pins at 45 degrees or a "V" groove to index from rather than tilting the table to 45 degrees, but that's no biggy.
> The biggest issue I see is that it's a rather small dia and there's not a lot of room for fingers to hold on or guide it. So the jig that securley holds it while the operation is performed or a simple reference fixture where the piece can not shift is best.  bill



If you feel the piece is too small for the table saw, you stated that you've cut as narrow as 1/8" in this thread...post #3. The widths for this project are 3/4"-1". Seems enough to get a push shoe to do the pushin'.:yes:












 









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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Are we alone here?*



cabinetman said:


> If you feel the piece is too small for the table saw, you stated that you've cut as narrow as 1/8" in this thread...post #3. The widths for this project
> are 3/4"-1". Seems enough to get a push shoe to do the pushin'.:yes: .


Just cause I say I can do it, that don't mean "they" can do it.:no: While "we" can do it that don't mean "they" should do it. 
We are the "professionals"...well you are, so I try to give advice that will minimize the dangers when possible, so as I've said "that's all the free advice I can afford to give Ya." :yes:
Having said that, personally I would not feel comfortable with having that small a bearing surface against the fence and on the table. While it may go well 99 times in a row, it just don't feel right to me. And you betcha I would be usin' a push shoe if I tried it. I have teenage children to raise.... bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

woodnthings said:


> *Are we alone here?*


I think so. Only the poster would know if it doesn't feel right.












 









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## JMC'sLT30 (Oct 26, 2010)

You guys can say what you want but I feel my method is the safest by far. We make our pegs for timberframe the same way (basically, just not with the precision)JMO though.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Start with a piece of square stock equal to your needed dimensions or between 1 and 5 in Mike's diagram and about 6" longer than needed. Then with a 45° chamfer bit in a router table cut the sides off to make the octagon. Make your (L to R) cuts short about 3 inches from each end. After each cut, rotate the stock clockwise as viewed from the right end. Then with a hand saw and vise trim the remaining square ends of the stock.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

rrich said:


> Start with a piece of square stock equal to your needed dimensions or between 1 and 5 in Mike's diagram and about 6" longer than needed. Then with a 45° chamfer bit in a router table cut the sides off to make the octagon. Make your (L to R) cuts short about 3 inches from each end. After each cut, rotate the stock clockwise as viewed from the right end. Then with a hand saw and vise trim the remaining square ends of the stock.


This is exactly the way I would do it, with exception that I would start with a piece that is 3.5 (or more) times longer than the original, and then cut the pieces to down to size after routing the long blank, therefore getting 3 pieces (or more if you want).


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

If that piece was in a lathe, with an index plate and a router...you could make them all exact. My .02.:shifty:


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## fleasome (Feb 3, 2011)

*Thanks*

Thanks for all the advice.

I will play with several tests of various methods mentioned with some cheap scraps here in a week or two (too many fix the house projects at the moment) and get back.

Lee


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