Stuck dowels

[Russell Johnson]

I'm doing some railings for a bed where I pin the vertical parts to the top and bottom with 4 dowels (2 on top and 2 on the bottom). I've done a number of these with no issue but now I'm working on the front of the bed. After dry fitting I cannot get the dowels back out. If I use anything to pull them out most often they break or tear. Any ideas? The only thing I did different this time is I put them into the vertical pieces a bit deeper to solve a depth problem on the tops and bottoms. Any ideas?

[John Myer]

I've occasionally had the same problem, but have been able to pull most of them out using pliers with a slight twisting action. On one or two occasions I had to use a slightly undersize drill bit and drill the dowels that broke off in the hole. When having that problem it is probably because the dowels have swelled to a slightly larger size. That can be solved by placing the dowels in a cake pan and placing them in an oven at a low setting for a short time period. After that the dowels should be stored in a zip lock storage bag to reduce the swelling that is a generally the result of humidity. Good Luck.

[Russell Johnson]

Thanks for he advice I think that will solve my issue.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I just wanted to add that this (baking to reduce swelling) works for biscuits as well.

[Jim Summers]

I microwave my dowels. I usually count out plenty for the glue-up and microwave them for about thirty seconds two-three times.

HTH