Where to find accurately sized dowels?

[Royce Meritt]

Does everyone else have trouble finding dowels that are REALLY the diameter they are supposed to be? I'm tired of buying dowels that are supposed to be 1/2 and are really about a 32nd of an inch too small. :mad:

Is there someplace that sells dowels that are correct? I would gladly pay twice as much for a 1/2 dowel that really fits into a 1/2 inch hole. Thanks.

[Scott Loven]

Veritas sells a dowel maker (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=42331&cat=1,180,42288)
Lie-nielsen makes a dowel sizing plate (http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=106100&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iProductID=106100)
I have no experience with either tool but they look like they would give you want. The problem could be with the size of your drill bit or drill press run-out also.
Scott

[Michael Ballent]

Veritas sells a dowel maker (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=42331&cat=1,180,42288)
Lie-nielsen makes a dowel sizing plate (http://www.garrettwade.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=106100&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iProductID=106100)
I have no experience with either tool but they look like they would give you want. The problem could be with the size of your drill bit or drill press run-out also.
Scott

I would have to agree, go neander on this if you really need to have full control over the process. Have you tried the Miller Dowel System, it could be what you are looking for...

[Tim Sproul]

wooden dowels are wood. They generally shrink and swell with the climate they're in.....

As Scott said, the problem isn't necessarily the dowel - it could be the bit or drill behind the bit....let's not go further along that chain :D

And I'll put in another vote for using Miller Dowels in joinery situations. Fantastic product.....albeit the dowels can be a bit pricey. And remember to go a bit slower as you get to the larger bore steps....otherwise the bit can grab and destroy the work.

I've always had my eye on the Veritas dowel maker system but I seem to find many other ways of spending my money :cool:

[Rod Torgeson]

Royce.....A couple of years ago I was making a wine rack for my daughter. It uses a bunch of dowels about 4 inches long and about 3/4 inch in diameter. So I went to the dowel store and picked up the reguired amount. Not one of them fit snug into the 3/4 inch holes. So I took them all back. I drilled into a piece of scrap the 3/4 inch hole. Next time I went to the woodworking store, I went to the dowel section and tried the fit into the hole in the scrap, same thing, the dowel fit loose. I ended up making the dowels myself on the lathe. I have a lathe duplicator for my mini lathe. It took awhile but they were the right size. I believe what happens is that they make the dowels when the wood is green and then as time go on they shrink. When I went to the woodworking store I did find some that fit better then others. Hope this helps.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Everyone has given some good ideas and comments, so I'll add my $.02. Any dowel, either manufactured or home made will start out at the correct diameter if made correctly. Over time they will not only change in diameter as they absorb or release moisture, but they will turn into ovals. To satisfy your own curiosity, take a set of dial calipers and measure the diameter-- now rotate the dowel 90 degrees and measure again. There will be a difference in the two measurements. One of the ways that antique authorities check to see if an item is really an antiue is to check for roundness on turned parts. If they are round, the item in question is almost always a forgery. It's all a matter of shrinkage with vs across the grain.

[Alan Turner]

I have the LN dowel plate, and it does give you a full sized dowel. Pick the wood, and size, and go. Quick and easy.

[Keith Outten]

Beale Tools

Since Beale Tools sells a tool for making wooden threads it is imperative that you start with dowels that are sized properly. Beale sells wooden dowles of various species and every one I have purchased in the last ten years has been perfect. I even keep a large stock of their dowels in my shop and some of them are getting really old but are still as round as the day I received them.

[Harry Goodwin]

Years ago I had this problem and griped to the supplier who later told me it was a metric :mad: problem. He was being supplied metric sizes close to inch sizes. I have no idea what goes on now except your wisdom. I do have a plate I drilled myself and on a short dowel works fine. Put it on a good size vise and help it in the hole and pound away. Cheaper than the LN one.

[Martin Shupe]

I have a lathe duplicator for my mini lathe. It took awhile but they were the right size.

I have a Jet mini lathe, and was wondering what kind of duplicator you have, how much is costs, and if it is still available on the market.

Oh yeah, I also wonder if it would fit a Jet mini?

Thanks!

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Royce,

I buy mine from American Woodcrafters Supply in Riceville Ia. They have dowels that are a true size not undersize,I buy birch and oak, I think thats all they have. They have a web page but I don't know if its an online catalogue.Free shipping on orders over so much.

Hope this helps
Tom

[Kevin Brown]

another vote for Beall, all that I ordered have been perfect :)

[Royce Meritt]

another vote for Beall, all that I ordered have been perfect :)

Thanks for the input folks. I'm going to order some from Beall and see how they work out. A bit pricey but might be worth it.

[Tony Shaftel]

Interestingly enough, I ordered some 3/8" dowels from Packard Woodworking a couple years ago and they were a little oversize. When I asked them about it they said that was on purpose so that they could be sized to the hole--you would either sand it down or run it through a die or dowel plate of some sort. Drill bits can be had oversize and undersize (by .005 increments, I once saw) so it wouldn't seem possible to ship a dowel that would properly fit all drilled holes.

[Tony Shaftel]

I just had to post again on this ancient thread, to correct my braindead post of 4/1/05. It's not drill bits that come oversize and undersize, it's taps. Or was it dies? Not that anyone was mislead, I'm sure. :-)