Dowel plate

[lowell holmes]

Do you use a dowel plate. You can buy one, but I made my own.
Mine is a piece of flat bar that I drilled holes in. Paul's is a different design.
This might give you something to think about if you are not familiar with them.

https://paulsellers.com/2013/07/poor-mans-dowel-maker/

[Jim Koepke]

Instead of a dowel plate, my choice was to purchase a Dowel Former from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=70555&cat=1,42524

Works great. For making a bit bigger dowel this was made as an experiment and works fine:

379545

This works well with riven stock and makes a dowel slightly larger than 3/8" which is just right for a 3/8" auger bit. It can be tuned to cut smaller if need be.

My only change may be to move and slightly change the shape of the blade to cut more at the entry funnel on the side where the square stock enters.

jtk

[Dominik Dudkiewicz]

I initially made my own dowel plate from 4130 chrome-moly, but because I didn't heat treat it to surface harden it afterwards the holes quickly deteriorated - like very quickly. So I purchased a LN dowel plate and this has been very good, durable and is easier in use due to slightly tapered / relieved holes.

Cheers, Dom

[Stanley Covington]

I initially made my own dowel plate from 4130 chrome-moly, but because I didn't heat treat it to surface harden it afterwards the holes quickly deteriorated - like very quickly. So I purchased a LN dowel plate and this has been very good, durable and is easier in use due to slightly tapered / relieved holes.

Cheers, Dom

Me too. The LN dowel plate is a treasure.