Straight dowels vs spiral dowels

I suspect not, but await the answers. They’re both strong joints that I’ve used successfully.

-- Russell Pitner Hixson, TN 37343 bassboy40@msn.com

The Spiral…
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Spiral_Versus_Fluted_Dowels.html
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/finishing/regluing_doweled_chairs
The preferred joint for your boards would be a scarf joint…unless you are sandwiching it between other boards to make a panel. In a production shop they would cobble shorts with a finger joint.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

+1 for HandTooler.

In some of the cutting board I’ve made I just buy dowel rod, cut it to whatever length I need and scrape a knife along it in a few places. The scrapes give room for the glue bond.
I haven’t had one come apart yet, but it could happen.

-- Improvise.... Adapt...... Overcome!

I don’t see that there wood be enough difference to worry about so long as the two dowels you were comparing were made out of the same wood and were accurately made. But I really don’t know the answer to be honest.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

If your concerned about strength there are much stronger joints than using dowels.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I believe the spiral is to allow room for glue. Not really sure how successful that is. I’ve always just used whatever I have on hand.

-- Rich;) -"Dada make a big mess?" "Yes Dada made a big mess."

Wood Handbook—Wood as an Engineering Material says that “glue joints should have a smoothness the equivalent of being sanded with 220 grit sand paper.” That’s pretty smooth. The glue itself doesn’t give much strength, it has to bond the fibers of the two pieces being joined. I just use smooth dowels and glue and they work fine. +1 a1Jim.

-- Tim-- http://www.tmuli.com

Scarf would be easier and stronger.

-- -- Rick M.

Can a scarf joint be achieved with a table saw or a miter saw?

Dallas said

In some of the cutting board I’ve made I just buy dowel rod, cut it to whatever length I need and scrape a knife along it in a few places

Oh Dallas the argument is made for a lathe in the shop. Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Can a scarf joint be achieved with a table saw or a miter saw?

Easily, I make them all the time. I built a very simple jig for my table saw that rides in the miter slot and has an adjustable angled fence. The fence pivots on the side closest to the blade and a series of holes on the opposite end allows you to adjust the angle. A cut off nail pins the fence into the holes. Basically it’s a small taper jig.

-- -- Rick M.

I was always of the opinion that the grooves were to allow glue to escape when putting the dowel into a closed hole. Otherwise the hydraulic pressure will make them hard to install and they sometimes want to ‘back out’.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

That was my understanding also Andy

-- Improvise.... Adapt...... Overcome!

and also my understanding Andy and Dallas. try to put a joint together with a smooth dowel that fits the hole. Add glue and push that together. Not me.