Hole in the center of a dowel

[John Harris]

Does anyone have any tricks to drill a hole in the center of the end of a dowel?

[Randy Ferguson]

clamp a piece of scrap to your drill press table.

drill a hole in the scrap that's the same diameter as the dowel

place the dowel into the hole you just drilled

mount the drill bit of choice and drill. if the scrap wasn't moved your hole will be centered

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I just saw this in a magazine and it was the same idea as Randy had except they also used a wood clamp to hold the dowel from rotating. But yeah, it's the same idea.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

The clamp is important, otherwise the dowel will spin out if you try to hold it in your hands. DAMHIKT

[Jim Becker]

The "hole in the wood" to hold the dowl is a good one...and by cutting a slit on one side, you can equip it with a bolt and wing nut to turn it into an effective clamp! The DP table may need to be rotated vertically and the head offset slightly to allow for a longer dowel to be drilled.