dowels for motise and tenons

[jamesd]

I need some oak dowels to peg my mortise and tenons and was wandering whether or not people buy them or make their own?

If so how do you make them or where can you buy them from? I think axminster is the only place i know that sells long dowels.

I don't want massive ones, say a bit thicker than a pencil and 6inches long.

 

Pretty new to woodworking so apologies if its a stupid question!

 

Many thanks, James.

[Woodworks]

Depends on what size and length. For short ones plug cutter can make them presuming you have a drill press. For longer ones I just route a piece of square wood to a round using a router and radius cutter. This style http://www.eagleamerica.com/product/320-9005/woodboring_-_plug_cutters

Edited April 15, 2016 by Woodworks

[Ian Leach]

Lathe

[bob]

Look at this on eBay

Oak wooden dowels 9.5mm - 50.8mm x 350mm. Made in UK. Cheapest on Ebay.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[agg221]

I drill a hole the size I want in a piece of steel plate.

 

I then choose a straight grained piece of wood and cut it a couple of inches longer than I want the dowels and split it into blocks with the grain, sort of square-ish and the size I want. I use a froe, but before I had one I used to use a blunt chisel (I think I found a scrap one and ground it from the back to make more of a taper point than a bevel).

 

I then trim a point on the end of a blank, to give a lead in to the hole and bang it into the hole to mark the circle. I then trim some of the excess off, trying to 'peel' it up the grain away from the marked end, to make it close-ish to round and to size.

 

I then bang it right through the hole. The sharp edge peels off the remainder of the excess and it sort of compresses the fibres. If you use the peg pretty much straight after it will then swell back up again and lock even tighter.

 

Unless what you are doing is particularly small, I would look at whether you can use 12mm pegs - they are a lot stronger, easier to make and less prone to snapping off when banging them in, just before you get them properly home....

 

Alec

[54gka]

Axminster sell the veritas dowel cutters might be worth ago.

[ucoulddoit]

G&S Specialist Timber at Penrith make and sell a range of dowel sizes in a variety of timbers including oak Hardwood Timber Merchant and Hand Tool Supplier in Cumbria. I've not bought any from them, but they will be round whereas dowels from elsewhere are usually fluted which might be an issue if the ends are left visible. I use the method suggested by Alec, except I've drilled a line of holes in a steel plate, reducing in diameter by 0.5mm so the dowel is steadily trimmed to the required diameter after starting with the larger holes.

 

Andrew

[dirtybiker]

The company that supplied my oak frame for my self-build house used hundreds of them. All came pre boxed from another company as it wasn't cost effective to make them.

Contact any of the oak framing companies, (mine was Border Oak) I'm sure they would point you in the right direction.

Don't forget the pegs / dowels should be seasoned not green and are best slightly tapered.

The framing team on my place dipped the small end of the peg in Teak Oil before driving it in to the joint.

Hope that helps:thumbup:

[Wendelspanswick]

Dowel plates:

https://www.classichandtools.com/acatalog/Miller-Dowel.html

 

Cheaper ones are available!

[agg221]

I use the method suggested by Alec, except I've drilled a line of holes in a steel plate, reducing in diameter by 0.5mm so the dowel is steadily trimmed to the required diameter after starting with the larger holes.

Andrew

 

Yes - that would help a lot - I would imagine even more so for smaller pegs where it is easy to snap them if you are off line. With 1" or 3/4" though I don't think I could face drilling that many holes in steel plate - it would probably cost more more in drill bits than was worth it

 

Alec