# My homemade dowel maker jig, (Corrected version)



## Chipncut

I promised quite awhile ago that I'd show some images of my dowel making jig. I got the plan from a book , but I don't remember the name of the book. It's real easy to make, & you can get the material right out of your scrap pile.
For 1/2" dowels you use 9/16" square stock. You chuck it in your hand drill, & spin it as you feed it in. You can round the end of the square stock in order to fit your chuck, put a large screw, or hanger bolt in the end. You can make this jig longer, & put a series of dowel sizes.
You use a 1/2," or larger core bit in your router.




























Clamp the jig in a vise. then clamp your router to the jig.


















*Here's the Windsor Chair*


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## Don

Interesting idea.

Let's see if I've got this right.

1. You chuck the square dowel stock in your hand drill.
2. You place a 'core bit in your router.
3. With both the router and the hand drill turned on, you feed the square stock into the jig.
5. The router bit turns the square stock into a round dowel.

Am I close?


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## Obi

Yup, he's a lumberjock

And I thought I was an extremist when I was using sandpaper and a drill


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## Chipncut

Right on the money Don,
It's not very fancy, but it did the job. I was more interested in getting my Windsor chair done, so I slapped it together in a hurry.
It takes a little adjusting of the cutter depth to get the perfect dowel diameter, but once it's adjusted it stays adjusted, until the next time you setup.


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## Obi

And whatta ya mean not fancy? It's more than fancy, it's elaborate. 
Might not be real pretty, but it's definately fancy.


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## Don

Here's a similar jig.


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## David

Dick - nice dowel jig! I copied this and Don's pdf to my woodworking files for future reference. You never know when you will need a custom dowel from the stock you are working with instead of a store bought dowel that doesn't match.


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## Obi

And i can't sleep. I've got dowels on the brain. I got the new dowel maker that I ordered from Veritas. It arrived today and I made several dowels. But now I'm not satisfied with making just one size dowel. And the one that Karson bought for $300… I'm thinking that $300 would go a lot farther with another purchase. So I'm thinking somewhere between Dick and Don there is a happy medium.


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## David

Obi - you are getting too fancy!


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## Obi

it must be my new picture, David.


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## Chipncut

Don
I like that Highland setup.
I might make one with the following modifications. I'd have it clamped to the router fence making it a simpler changeover. I'd also use a large 45 degree bit, so you can use the up, down adjustments of the router for fine tuning the dowel size.


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## Obi

and why cant you clamp the jig to the fence? Or is it already?


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## bbrooks

A great jig Don. Maybe your next step is to make the center changeable so you can do other size dowels too. While Os could have made them on his lathe, I know it would take me forever, and not likely they would all match.

Yes Obi, maybe it is your new picture. Is that what they call fade to black (and white)? Or LIB (lumberjocks in black). hahaha


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## Obi

Im trying to make this my little logo thing in my address bar, but it isnt working so far


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## Chipncut

Obi
The one Don shows, that it's screwed to the router base.


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## oscorner

Bill, I'm sure it wouldn't take any longer on the lathe than it must take to set up the router and the drill. Personally, I don't care to have a bit turning at 20,000 rpms while spinning a piece of stock with a drill, when I can have the piece secured in between centers with a roughing gouge firmly resting on my tool guide. But, as everyone knows by now, that's just me talking. In reality, you are doing the same functions: spinning a wooden blank and using a cutting edge to shave off the high spots. A steady rest on the lathe will make turning such thin material an easier task. With it you wouldn't have to use your fingers to support the center of the dowel to keep it from chattering.

The great thing about all these different methods is that no matter what your comfort level or what tools you posses, these show that with a little thought and imagination it can be done. I love the sharing of ideas.


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## bbrooks

My hat is off to you Os that you can make those things on your lathe. Maybe someday I will get that good. But it takes me so long to do certain things now, I would hate to delay a project several weeks while I improved my lathe skills.


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## Chipncut

Check this one out, it's similar to mine but it has multiple sizes. Precision Dowel Maker


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## jockmike2

A little off your topic, but if you don't have room on your workbench for a wood vise and a machinests vise you can do what I did. I made a ttttttttt with some 2×6 and mounted my
! ! machinests vise on the t, when I need the vise I just stick it in mywoodvise 
mike


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## Chipncut

That's just the thing I do too Mike.


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## PeterJ

Dick, I think the plan came from one of Patrick Spielman's Router books. I saw it once and then forgot about it until now. Must have a look for that book to see if it is still in our public library.

I just noticed that you beat me to it, must remember to follow alll the references.


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## Chipncut

Peter
Did you check the link above? It's from Patrick Spielman's book.


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## oscorner

Well, Bill if I need a dowel super fast, I just go and buy one premade. My skills on the lathe are slightly better than rookie. Turning a square blank round is the very first thing that you learned on the lathe. It is the begining of any spindle work or bowl work for that matter. The biggest thing is having a good steady rest so you don't get the flexing. Honing your skills is never a waste of time and as your skills on the lathe improve you will find more uses for your lathe in those great projects that I've seen you make.


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## Chipncut

I needed some Ash dowels for my Windsor chair. I could have turned them on my lathe, but with my jig. I can make 8 dowels in the time it takes to make only one on my lathe.


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## Obi

Faster than it takes to drive to the local Dowel Store.

ANd I'm learning there are a whole lotta things you can do with a router


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## Chipncut

You can even setup your router on your wood lathe to make dowels, or just about anything that's round.


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## Obi

Now what bit exactly do I need? Send me a link to see. If I dont see it, it doesnt register.
Kinda like listening to my wife. If I dont see it, it doesnt exist.


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## bbrooks

A bull nose bit in the router will allow you to make a dowel in 2 passes. Round over one side, turn piece around, and round the other side. The size of the bit must be the same as the wood thickness you are using. A 3/4" bull nose bit for 3/4" materials. MLCS Woodworking has them here.


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## Chipncut

For those who don't have a router, you can use your tablesaw. I found this article on fine woodworking online.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Making Dowels with the Tablesaw
by Larry Churchill 
Mayville, WI
I prefer to make my own dowels for several good reasons. I can make any size dowel in any length from any wood. My system is simpler and certainly less expensive than the commercial dowel-making tools that are limited to only a few sizes. The drawings show the complete tooling required: a hardwood block and your table saw. The block size isn't critical, but it should be thick enough to clamp easily to the saw's rip fence and long enough to cover the sawblade in use. This last point is important because you'll need to reach across the saw to withdraw the finished dowel.

To construct the fixture, first drill a dowel-sized exit hole through the length of the block. Enlarge this hole from the front, halfway through the block, to produce a feed hole. The diameter of the feed hole should be the same as the diagonal of the square dowel blanks you plan to use. As a guide the diameter of the feed hole shouldn't exceed the exit hole by 1/4 in. Now clamp the block to the saw's rip fence. Center the block over the blade. In a succession of cove cuts (made by raising the sawblade into the block) cut a channel from the edge to just into the wall of the exit hole. The best blade to use to channel the block and make dowels is a heavy, small-diameter carbide-toothed blade. Next rip the dowel blanks so they will turn easily in the feed hole. With the block clamped and the fence locked, start the saw and insert the blank. Rotate the blank clockwise and feed slowly until the blade starts cutting. Adjust the block's position with the rip fence until the dowel fits snugly in the exit hole. It's a good idea to withdraw the dowel and check the size of the first few inches. 
In smaller sizes, which are difficult to rotate by hand, I cut a short dowel on one end. Then I chuck the short dowel in my portable drill. A slow feed and a slow rotation yield the smoothest dowels.

Larry Churchill, Mayville, Wis.


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## stefang

Hi Dick and Barb. I'm planning to make a router jig to make dowels. So far I've got two good choices between Nick Engler's design from his book Advance Routing and the one in Bill Hylton's book Router Magic. But I am curious to see the one mentioned in your blog posted about 3 years ago in case it is even better, but the photos are not there any longer so I wondered if you would be willing to post them again if they are still available?


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## Chipncut

*Thanks for asking Mike,*

I was using a different image posting site, (Webshots).

I didn't know enough about computers at the time.

I didn't change them to (Photobucket) like I should have. I'll have to check some of my other threads.

*SORRY EVERYBODY!!*


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## a1Jim

Thanks for the info Dick.


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## Chipncut

*Thanks Dave, & Jim,*

I screwed it up again by moving the images into an album, but* I fixed it again.*


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## bigike

great info. just a question has any one see the jig like the first one posted but instead of making dowels it threads them?


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## stefang

Thanks very much Dick & Barb for reposting the photos. You mentioned in your original blog that you had a couple of choices including Nick Engler's jig. I have his book "Advanced Routing" with that in it and also a different set-up in Billl Hylton's book "Router Magic". Your design is good but won't work for me, as the intension was to use my router table with it, but I appreciate your reposting and I'm sure others will be glad to have access to it.

I have yet another method I have been using which I learned from an old FWW mag. tip. I think is better than all of them, but I have to redo it just a little more accurately to get perfect results. If I can manage that I will do little blog on it in the near future.


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## Chipncut

*You're welcome Mike.*
I've seen one that you can use on the router table. It should be fairly easy to make,

I think it would work much better than my version. I needed this in a hurry in order to complete the chair, that's why I made this one.

*Ike*
I've seen a homemade thread maker, but I can't remember where.

I'll have to do some searching for it. I'd like one myself.


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## stefang

Thanks for the reply. I've decided not to use the router to make dowels with. I have been making them for several years now with just my handrill and a steel plate drilled a special way. The accuracy has been very close but not 100%. I decided my time would be better spent to get the accuracy perfect (my kind of perfect) with a new issue of the one I have. I have much better tools to make it this time. I will be sure to notify you when I post it. There's no set-up with it other than securing the plate in a bench vise, so you might like it. Have a good day!


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