Cutting small dowels

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  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Cutting small dowels

    OK I need some ideas.
    I need some repetitive dowels in this case 3/16ths but often 1/4" dia.
    They need to be an inch or two long.
    I have 36" long dowel rods from the store.
    I want them uniform and to have nice squared clean cut ends, not crushed or split.so they can be inserted into a matching drilled hole.
    I want a small power tool with stops guides etc

    Using the bandsaw, the table saw or the miter saw is way too dangerous for short, fragile pieces
    I am using now a small hobby miterbox and a japanese flush cut trim saw to cut them by hand. But that is tedious and the saw with no tooth offset wants to bind up.Takes forever and I hate it.
    I have also uses a standard miterbox and a backsaw but the cut is kind of rough.
    Capturing the pieces once they've been cut is also always a chores - too small and dangerous to hold onto.

    How do I do this with minimum effort, quick and clean
    I have a dremel tool. Also one of those oscillating tools that I haven't found much use for.


    Last edited by LCHIEN; 08-26-2017, 12:09 AM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    #2
    OK this has made me think more... have a arm that holds the dremel tool with a rotary blade... make the arm go up and down parallel to the blade like a chop saw. Feed the dowel into a hole that supports the dowel. Hmmm.
    More like a project for hundreds, but not worth it for a dozen.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

    Comment

    • capncarl
      Veteran Member
      • Jan 2007
      • 3564
      • Leesburg Georgia USA
      • SawStop CTS

      #3
      Use a piece of 2x4 that you clamp in a sled. Cut a through hole in it that the dowel just fits through. Measure off the desired length, clamp it in the sled, set blade depth to just cut through the hole..... presto, you have a dowel cutter. Cut, push dowel to the end, cut, push, repeat until you can't push any more through.

      Comment


      • LCHIEN
        LCHIEN commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks Capncarl, that makes sense. I'll try that
    • LCHIEN
      Internet Fact Checker
      • Dec 2002
      • 20914
      • Katy, TX, USA.
      • BT3000 vintage 1999

      #4
      Capncarl, that absolutely worked like a champ. Thanks.
      Loring in Katy, TX USA
      If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
      BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

      Comment

      • cwsmith
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2005
        • 2737
        • NY Southern Tier, USA.
        • BT3100-1

        #5
        I prefer pre-made dowels for joining, because of their fluting and expandablity, but for other things like tool hangers, etc. I have cut them on the bandsaw using a stop block to ensure equal lengths. My little 9" Ryobi works well for such and I'm not overly concerned about getting too close to the action. However, I still use the miter to push the stock through, using a spacer block between the fence and just before the blade... so no pinching. I sort of feed it like you would a sausage into a meat slicer, just sort of a back and forth action. It's like push the dowel against the stop, feed into the blade, pull back and repeat. I also try to rotate the dowel as it's being cut, to ensure that the cuts is even.

        This works well for me and after I have the number of short pegs that I need, I usually soften the cut edge against the bottom of my vibrating detail sander. (disk sanders and my ROS are too fast and will whip the dowel out of your fingers.)

        I hope this helps,

        CWS
        Last edited by cwsmith; 09-04-2017, 06:31 PM. Reason: Mispelled "short" as "shot"... corrected, see italics
        Think it Through Before You Do!

        Comment


        • LCHIEN
          LCHIEN commented
          Editing a comment
          good idea about the detail sander for chamfering... the disk and belt sanders want to take that tiny piece and fling it from your fingers.
      • LCHIEN
        Internet Fact Checker
        • Dec 2002
        • 20914
        • Katy, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 vintage 1999

        #6
        Here's the jig - really quick and dirty with some of the crappiest scrapwood I could find! Holes were 1/64th oversized.
        see attached photos
        Loring in Katy, TX USA
        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

        Comment

        • cwsmith
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 2737
          • NY Southern Tier, USA.
          • BT3100-1

          #7
          Good jig, but if I'm visualizing it right, you'd have to fill those holes with several pieces of dowel stock, run it through the saw and have perhaps, some waste in the process... not mention the action required to load the jig, do the cut, and then dump or perhaps even press the dowels out after the cut, all of which seems a little inefficient. Am I visualizing that correctly ?

          CWS

          Think it Through Before You Do!

          Comment

          • LCHIEN
            Internet Fact Checker
            • Dec 2002
            • 20914
            • Katy, TX, USA.
            • BT3000 vintage 1999

            #8
            I made it for multiple dowels at the same time, which assumes you have like 6 or 8 12 inch dowels. But in the end I cut one at a time because I had just one 24" dowel and didn't want to break it up. and end up with a lot of cutoffs. Once you put the block in the Drill press with a fence 1 hole or 10 holes is just a couple of minutes work.

            So I just inserted the dowel, made a pass on the saw,
            Removed the jig, pushed the cut piece out from the jig with the leftover dowel.

            I considered using an auxiliary stop block attached to the fence with the block positioned in front of the blade, and moved the jig with the miter fence. but I think I ended up just pushing jig along the rip fence with a push stick and making a partial cut down the length of the jig.

            .


            Loring in Katy, TX USA
            If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
            BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

            Comment

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