Wooden body
I own a die and tap to thread wood but the diameter is 3/4" and this is a dowel size I can't find locally.
I have thus decided to try and build a rounding plane / dowel maker to create my own 3/4" dowels.
A rounding plane is is like a giant pencil sharpener with a cone shaped inlet and an outlet bored to the exact size of the desired dowel.
I never held such a tool in my hands and the only ressource I have is an old Fine Woodworking article I remember which gave 2 guidelines :
Before I record the details of the building process I want to say that I am fully aware that there are some alternatives to rounding planes (router jigs, lathe, or contraptions such as Mathias' http://woodgears.ca/dowel/making.html) but I am a sucker for specialized hand tools and I would like to avoid using power tools for this task.
Here is the blank of wood that will be used for my (first) experiment :
On the picture you can see the layout lines. The exit hole has already been bored to the proper size (19mm) and a neighbour kindly turned the cone to the proper entry diameter (43mm) on his lathe. The cone shape is not as straight nor as perfect as it should but we will see later if this becomes an issue.
Now starting to saw the body at 75 degree angle (4 screw pilot holes were drilled before sawing to make registration easier) :
And continuing with a different saw as the first one was not deep enough (but ensured a more accurate start) :
Finally crosscutting to free the blade holder :
Here is the result with the body and the blade holder separated :
The blade holder needs to have a chunk removed to let the shavings come out. On the next picture, I kerfed the waste to make it easier to chisel out. (did not take a picture of the resulting chiseled out part but it will probably make it to some later stage pictures).
Ok, that's it for the initial shaping of the woodent body. I hope the irregular cone shape will not jeopardize the tool's usability.
Next post will be about the blade shaping.
I own a die and tap to thread wood but the diameter is 3/4" and this is a dowel size I can't find locally.
I have thus decided to try and build a rounding plane / dowel maker to create my own 3/4" dowels.
A rounding plane is is like a giant pencil sharpener with a cone shaped inlet and an outlet bored to the exact size of the desired dowel.
I never held such a tool in my hands and the only ressource I have is an old Fine Woodworking article I remember which gave 2 guidelines :
- The cone base is roughly twice the diameter of the exit hole.
- The blade is angled 75 degrees.
Before I record the details of the building process I want to say that I am fully aware that there are some alternatives to rounding planes (router jigs, lathe, or contraptions such as Mathias' http://woodgears.ca/dowel/making.html) but I am a sucker for specialized hand tools and I would like to avoid using power tools for this task.
Here is the blank of wood that will be used for my (first) experiment :
On the picture you can see the layout lines. The exit hole has already been bored to the proper size (19mm) and a neighbour kindly turned the cone to the proper entry diameter (43mm) on his lathe. The cone shape is not as straight nor as perfect as it should but we will see later if this becomes an issue.
Now starting to saw the body at 75 degree angle (4 screw pilot holes were drilled before sawing to make registration easier) :
And continuing with a different saw as the first one was not deep enough (but ensured a more accurate start) :
Finally crosscutting to free the blade holder :
Here is the result with the body and the blade holder separated :
The blade holder needs to have a chunk removed to let the shavings come out. On the next picture, I kerfed the waste to make it easier to chisel out. (did not take a picture of the resulting chiseled out part but it will probably make it to some later stage pictures).
Ok, that's it for the initial shaping of the woodent body. I hope the irregular cone shape will not jeopardize the tool's usability.
Next post will be about the blade shaping.