How to cut dowel rod in half

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Hello Gang,

I would like to cut some dowel rods in half for a project. How can this be done? Using a V-Block? How do I clamp the dowel in the V-Block to keep it from turning? Thanks for the help :confused:

Joe

[Paul Symchych]

what size?
If they are sufficiently large so kerf loss is not a major consideration I suppose a pair of V-blocks held together with screws or dabs of glue would hold them firmly enough to run through the table or bandsaw.
Or... Maybe a bit of glue on each end of the dowel in a v-block would work so you could run the dowel through the planer. That does double your dowel wastage.
Just guessing.

[Jim Finn]

Drill a hole in 2 blocks of wood to fit the dowel and glue onto each end. Cut with table saw and then cut off blocks.

[Justin Bukoski]

vblock, hot glue is the easiest. If you don't have a hot glue gun you can try some 100 grit sandpaper on the vblock. Handsaw works best for me.

[Peter Quinn]

Make a square block for the front and rear of the dowel, make the square equal in dimension to the rods diameter, attach using dowel pins and glue, then cut the dowel rods in half, bandsaw would be my preference though TS would work, and then cut off the half squares from each end. You could also clamp them to a v block, use a dado or regular blade and a cross cut sled or miter gauge to create a flat at each end, say 1/4" deep, then glue a piece of 1/4" MDF or such to this to establish a foot, cut these off after splitting the dowels,

[Jim Eller]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't it be easier to take flat stock, make two passes on a router table with the appropiate round over bit, then cut off the semi circle on the table saw?

[Paul Symchych]

Jim: Bingo!

[Clarence Miller]

I'm with Jim

[Jim Heffner]

Joe, I ran into this same problem a while back, and here is what I did and it worked great.
I took the dowel and edge glued it to a piece of pine or plywood scrap same length as the
dowel . After the glue had dried for a while, I ran the piece through the band saw with the flat edge against the rip fence set at the proper distance to cut the dowel in half length wise, I popped the glued half off the scrap board it was glued to....and I was done.

[Chip Lindley]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't it be easier to take flat stock, make two passes on a router table with the appropiate round over bit, then cut off the semi circle on the table saw?

But, that's twice as hard as using a half-round router bit! If we are going to think outside the box of dowels, let's go the extra mile!

[George Bregar]

Everyone is assuming he wants to rip it. ;)

[Rick Fisher]

I would pin it to some flat stock with a 23ga pinner and rip in in half on the bandsaw.. Right through the pins..

[Peter Quinn]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't it be easier to take flat stock, make two passes on a router table with the appropiate round over bit, then cut off the semi circle on the table saw?

Well, he didn't ask the best way to make half rounds, he asked how to split dowel rods. Maybe he already has the dowel rod in some species? You sure are right it would be easier and safer, probably quicker to bullnose some wide stock and rip these off, but where is the challenge in that?

[Ben Reese]

If you do not want to hot glue it then I suggest double sided carpet tape to hold it in place. This would be if you are using a band saw If you are going length wise I suggest the affore mentioned router table with a rounding over bit then rip the round over part on the table saw. Good luck

[Tony Bilello]

Everyone is assuming he wants to rip it. ;)

This is true, because we are also assuming he is not retarded and really wants a cross cut.

[Gary Herrmann]

You also need to keep in mind that most dowel rods - at least the ones I've come across are rarely straight. So factor that into whatever you plan to do.

[glenn bradley]

First sight down the dowel as if aiming gun. Now rotate 180 degrees and sight down the other end. Find an empty corner in the shop or, more likely, the house. Place the floor end of the dowel about 3" from each wall forming the corner. Lean the upper end back until it gently touches the adjoining wall surfaces allowing the dowel to stand in this position. Now, go find your car keys and drive to the hardware store and buy some half-round.

Seriously, if you want to match a material and I imagine you do. Acquire a router bit with the proper roundover, mill a piece of your material 3" or more wide to the proper thickness and make two runs on the router table to get a half-round profile. Saw off the strip and you have your trim. This removes the problems you would face with the removal of the saw kerf leaving you with an "almost half" round if you were to saw a dowel in half.

[Marc Jeske]

12 yr old post,but for future searchers, I am having to do this, and think I will try this simple idea linked below.
A slight alternate revision to the link video -
Instead of ordering and waiting for the plastic splitter, cut a slot and epoxy in an appropriate gauge of steel scrap as the splitter.

Marc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWwQIKj9osI

[William Hodge]

First sight down the dowel as if aiming gun. Now rotate 180 degrees and sight down the other end. Find an empty corner in the shop or, more likely, the house. Place the floor end of the dowel about 3" from each wall forming the corner. Lean the upper end back until it gently touches the adjoining wall surfaces allowing the dowel to stand in this position. Now, go find your car keys and drive to the hardware store and buy some half-round.

Seriously, if you want to match a material and I imagine you do. Acquire a router bit with the proper roundover, mill a piece of your material 3" or more wide to the proper thickness and make two runs on the router table to get a half-round profile. Saw off the strip and you have your trim. This removes the problems you would face with the removal of the saw kerf leaving you with an "almost half" round if you were to saw a dowel in half.


I didn't read all this, but shooting a dowel out the barrel of a gun just isn't worth it.

Like my old woodshop teacher, Mr. Ettinger, used to say, "Never ever never shoot a dowel out of a gun in order to split it in half."

Mr. Ettinger was always able to back up his safety tips with Real Life Examples that would make your skin crawl. He must have had something happen to his fingernails when he was with the 1st Marines on Peleieu, because someone always lost them in a dramatic way due to not following directions.

Anyway, back to projectile dowel longitudenal segmentation, the issue at hand. Apparently when Mr. Ettinger was a kid, in 1935, his older brother Billy tried to split a dowel by firing it out of the left barrel of his Father's Baretta bird shotgun. Billy took a hack saw and cut a kerf in the end of the barrel, and fastened a razor blade in there. He took a 12" dowel from Clough's Hardware and stuck it in the barrel. Finally, he loaded it with a bird shot shotgun shell. They took this get up down in the valley behind our house to shoot it, where Dad wouldn't hear them shooting his favorite gun.

They got set up in a logging clearing where there would be a good place for the dowel(s) to land. See, they were thinking ahead. This was Billy's idea, Billy's engineering, Billy's project, but he wanted Dick, his younger brother, to pull the trigger. He was dumb, but not that dumb. He knew the inherent danger of modifying his Dad's favorite firearm and firing experimental projectiles from it: Sever injuries inflicted by Dad. The honors fell to Billy.

Safety off, then click!

Nothing happened.
Again. Nothing.

It turned out that after the last unauthorized use of firearms, their Dad had loaded the shotgun shells with charcoal, and locked up all the real ammunition.

They took the shot gun home, patched the cut barrel with Hoof Doctor Farrier recommended horse hoof glue, and called it a day.

[Bill Dufour]

FYI A machinist vee block often has a clamp. Very similar to a flaring tool for tubing.

[johnny means]

I stick them on a grooved planer sled and mill off the half I don't need.

[Edwin Santos]

A board with a v-notch double stick taped to the bandsaw table?

[Dan Cameron]

You can make this cut easily on a bandsaw. Make a V block and cut a short kerf on one end and in the center of the V. Put a thin piece of metal to act as a "splitter" which will keep the dowel from rotating.