A wooden dowel is a cylindrical piece of wood that is used as a spacer, an axle, or a fastener.
Dowels can be made from a range of wood. They are typically about 1/2 inch in diameter and range in length. Wood dowels are often used in woodworking and construction projects, as well as in crafts and home improvement projects.
Dowels can be used to make simple furniture, such as chairs and tables, or they can be incorporated into more complex designs. In addition to being functional, dowels can also be decorative and you can use them to create inlaid designs or to add accents to a project.
Make sure the dowel is correctly sized for the project you're working on. You don't want it to be too big or too small otherwise, it will be difficult to work with and could cause problems.Second, always use a sharp knife or saw to cut the dowel. Dull tools can cause the wood to splinter, which can be dangerous.
When drilling dowel holes, make them slightly smaller than the dowel itself.
There are a few different tools you can use to cut a dowel rod, including a band saw, jigsaw and mitre saw. However, if you don't have access to any of these tools or the pieces aren't turning out how you want them to, try using a bench vice instead. Just place the dowel inside and tighten it down so that the wood is secure. Then use your hand saw or reciprocating saw to get nice clean cuts.
Cutting a wood dowel is simple. Using a fine-toothed saw or another sharp tool, cut the dowel to the desired length. Sanding the ends of the dowel is important after cutting it.
For making dowels, you'll need several tools.
Saw
Sharp knife
Measuring tape
Ruler
Sandpaper
Pen
Drill and drill bits
Clamps
Dowel plate
There are plenty of ways to use wooden dowel rods.
When you need to space two pieces of wood evenly, insert a dowel between them and then clamp them into place.
If you need to create a rotational dowel joint, use a dowel as the axle.
Use a dowel to fasten two pieces of wood together by drilling holes in both pieces and then inserting the dowel into the holes.
Create an inlay pattern on a piece of wood by attaching thin strips of wood to the surface using dowels.
To cut a hole for a dowel, use your drill to make several shallow holes in the wood, each slightly smaller than the diameter of the dowel itself. Then slowly remove the material between these holes until they meet in the middle and you have one large hole that is the perfect size. To create marks to drill holes for corresponding blind holes, you can use dowel centres. Using doweling jigs is another way to create a dowel hole easier and more accurate. You can place a doweling jig on the spot where you want to create a hole, a metal bushing with different sizes guides the jig to cut till the drill stop.
There are several ways to attach wooden dowels.
Nail the dowel to a wood surface
Drill matching holes on two pieces of wood and then snap the dowel into place
Use glue to fix the dowel in place
Insert screws into pre-drilled holes and then tighten them down.
Both can be used for a variety of purposes. Wooden dowels are better for the below applications.
Small projects.
Lightweight items such as wands and brooms.
Inlays in wooden furniture where they won't be seen.
Seating.
Structural integrity when being inserted into pre-drilled holes in a surface such as a table or a chair leg.
Steel dowel pins are better for:
Large objects that require more strength and support.
Heavy-duty applications such as structural beams and pillars.
Building furniture with thin legs such as stools.
If you need to secure two boards together, you can do so with the help of a dowel. Simply drill matching holes in each piece of wood and then insert your wooden dowel into them when they're aligned. Once it's inserted all the way, cut it out and remove one board before cutting it back in and removing the second board. This should create a tight fit. Ensure the dowels and the boards are glued together and wipe out any excess glue. It is preferred to create a small groove on the wood dowel using a groove screw, to allow any excess glue and air to get out.
A dowel joint is a type of mechanical joinery, the basic idea being to drill a hole through aligned elements and join them by inserting a dowel into both holes - often with glue. A correctly fit dowel will provide enough slop for alignment at the mating surfaces while keeping the parts in compression. The strength of a well-fit dowel is proportional to the material they're made from and their diameter, the narrower dowel will not provide enough strength. This is why woodworkers prefer dowels in joinery, as they're able to provide a lot of strength for their size. Dowel joints have the advantage of being very forgiving if they're not perfectly aligned, much more so than other mechanical joints like mortise and tenon or dovetail.
Interested in a career in woodworking? JobOutlook has an outline of the training involved in using woodwork machines.