Dowels and drills.

[John Gregory]

So we are making another cutting board like this one for a wedding gift. http://woodworksutah.com/cutting%20board%20for%20wedding%20003.jpg
We buy 3/8" walnut dowels and I use a 3/8" Forstner bit to drill the holes. The dowels are suppose to fit tight, no glue. The dowel falls through the hole! What the Heck? I use a caliper to measure. The bit is 3/8" the dowel is labeled 3/8" but measures 23/64"!

What does everyone else do to get a tight fit with under sized dowels?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Sean Hughto]

make your own dowels with a lathe or dowel plate.

[Jamie Buxton]

I take a micrometer with me to the store, and sort through the bundle of dowels until I find one that meets my needs.

Just to complicate matters, storebought dowels are rarely round, either.

[Pat Barry]

I had that same problem with some 3/4 walnut dowel that I bought from Rockler. I think the two options are return the material or drill an undersized hole and make the dowels work. Problem is that is a pretty odd size drill for 3/4". I would need 23/32". For some 1/4" walnut dowels I used 7/32 drill and it worked fine.

[glenn bradley]

Maybe your source for dowels are sized to allow for glue(?). Seems like the best choices would be to buy an undersized lipped brad point bit (http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=42247&cat=1,180,42240) or make your own full sized dowels. If you are going to glue them in I assume you want some room for the glue(?).

[Rick Potter]

Hi John,

I have found that not only are my dowels different sizes, but some of my drill bits are different. I usually use brad point, sometimes forstner, bits to drill for dowels. I have a set of good brad points from Shopsmith, a set of B&D bits, and a set of cheap brad points that have 1/32 larger and smaller on both sides of the size.

What I did was to make a sample board with the common sizes of dowel holes. I drilled holes from each mfg., and labeled them with a marker. Now, when I look for a dowel, or even dowel stock, I take the board and physically check to see what drill bit to use.

Hmmm. I think I will post this in the tips sticky too.

Rick Potter

[John Gregory]

This is a great idea Rick. I do a similar thing for my dado blade set up.


Hi John,

I have found that not only are my dowels different sizes, but some of my drill bits are different. I usually use brad point, sometimes forstner, bits to drill for dowels. I have a set of good brad points from Shopsmith, a set of B&D bits, and a set of cheap brad points that have 1/32 larger and smaller on both sides of the size.

What I did was to make a sample board with the common sizes of dowel holes. I drilled holes from each mfg., and labeled them with a marker. Now, when I look for a dowel, or even dowel stock, I take the board and physically check to see what drill bit to use.

Hmmm. I think I will post this in the tips sticky too.

Rick Potter

[Jerry Miner]

What does everyone else do to get a tight fit with under sized dowels?

Use an undersized drill bit to match

(I gave in and bought a set of brad points from Lee Valley in 1/64" increments---cost some $$ but saved a lot of frustration)

[Bill Huber]

With the DowelMax and the Jessem dowel jig they both come with a 9mm bit and not a 3/8 for 3/8 dowels.

3/8 bit is 9.52mm so a 9mm bit would be undersized.

[Myk Rian]

I make my own dowels on the router table.

[John Gregory]

Thanks Bill, that is a good tip


With the DowelMax and the Jessem dowel jig they both come with a 9mm bit and not a 3/8 for 3/8 dowels.

3/8 bit is 9.52mm so a 9mm bit would be undersized.

[Tim Janssen]

Could this be of some help maybe:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32721&cat=1,250,43217,32721
Regards,

Tim

[Richard Wolf]

Make your own drill bits. I find it very easy to use spade bits and grind, or even use a belt sander to take a little off each side of the bit to get the size you need.

[Steve Milito]

Are the dowels through and through?
If not, a tapered plug cutter might work.