How to cut an ovoid rod?

[joe webb]

Hello all,

I need to build a stall bars (aka swedish wall bars) for my daughter physical therapy exercises. It is a fairly simple build except for one thing: the rungs.

438568 https://infitnessequipment.com/collections/wall-bars/products/acadia

I will buy the 36" dowels from the store for the rungs.
However I was advised to not use a dowel with a circular profile, but rather with an ovoid profile to make it easier to grab and hold.
An ovoid is like the shape of a racing track. Rounded on both ends and flat on the sides.

I can run the round dowel thru my table saw to flatten the sides, but how can I keep it from rotating during the cut?
Any other way to cut it? I do have a router as well.

Thank you

[Jon McElwain]

Build a long sled a few inches longer than the dowels, and cut dowels a couple inches longer than needed for the final dimension. Screw the dowels to the sled at the very ends and run the sled and dowel through the table saw. Cut the ends with screw holes off for final length.

Make any sense?

Jon

[glenn bradley]

I would cut the rods from flat stock and add the round over for most of the length. a 1" x 1-1/2" blank with 1/2" radius round overs that run to within about 2" of each end to leave them square for joinery or the full length if that suits you.

438569

[Doug Garson]

Both John and Glenn's method should work, you could also cut the dowell a few inches long and glue or screw a square block on each end plus a strip the full length to act as a reference surface to ride along the fence rip one edge then rotate 180 degrees and rip the second edge.

[joe webb]

Thank you all. Great suggestions. I can visualize the concept. But a couple questions on the execution.

1) For the table saw cuts, how can I make the cuts repeatable? I mean shaving the same amount from the dowel.
2) For the router cuts, do I need some jig? Riding on a 1/2" flat surface seems difficult. Or how would I clamp it to my workbench? Or should that be done on a router table?

[johnny means]

Ditch the dowels. They're inconsistent and tricky to machine. A bullnose on square stock is the obvious solution. Build yourself a simple router table with a fence.

[Tom Bender]

Here's my simple router table. It would make short work of the task.

438578438579

Ok that second pic is upside down so please stand on your head to understand it. Last time I posted it it was right side up. Random inconvenience.

Anyway the bit of wood taped to the table is there to accommodate any unstraightness in the stock which would otherwise have messed up the routing. You always work with perfectly straight stock? Then you don't need it.

[Jim Matthews]

How many rungs?
A decent spokeshave can safely knock this out in an hour. You can leave the ends round for simple joinery.


https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodworking-tips-1206jun/spokeshave.html

[Bill Dufour]

I tried looking for the shape of a ballet barre and could not find if it is round or not. They are expensive!
I know for bird perches they recommend using wood branches that vary in diameter not dowels of one diameter. There is some danger that the claws or hands will lock into one size over time and lose flexibility. For that reason a spokeshave might give. a better result then a shaper since you can leave some. slight variations in shape and texture. I am thinking smooth, but like an adze was used.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

I made some drawer pulls for the shop shaped like that. I do not know your needed dimensions so I will just say what i did. You will need to increase things to fit. I do not have the correct bullnose cutter so I used. a 1/4 round over bit to take two corners off the edge a 1x4. Then I ripped off about one inch and did the same to the fresh cut edge.
Bill D

[Wes Grass]

Jointer/Planer? The first pass or 2 might be a bit tricky without something to keep it from rolling. Maybe a block tacked to one end, or a handscrew clamp?

I'm kind of in the 'dowels are ugly' camp though. 45's on a rectangle and round it with a plane sounds reasonable, and you can choose the wood.

[glenn bradley]

2) For the router cuts, do I need some jig? Riding on a 1/2" flat surface seems difficult. Or how would I clamp it to my workbench? Or should that be done on a router table?

This is why I mention a flat section at each end. The material references off the square ends. Stops can assure a repeatable starting and stopping point. You are talking about 1-1/4" x 1-5/8" rungs so at that thickness the material (I'd favor white oak or pecan for this) should be self-supporting through the cut as long as the ends are well supported / referenced.

438589

I mark with pencil right on my router table top which is light colored but, pieces of tape can work as well in lieu of fence stops if the length exceeds your fence. Speaking of which, be sure to clamp on an auxiliary fence that is long enough to support the square ends for the full operation. If one end or the other suddenly goes unsupported you will gouge into your blank at best and launch it off the table at worst. With a long enough jointed piece of stock clamped to the router table as a fence this will be a breeze.

[roger wiegand]

Put it on a lathe and round it by offset turning with two symmetrically offset centers. Centers close together give a fat oval, farther apart you get a skinnier oval. You can start with square or round stock.

[Frederick Skelly]

How many rungs?
A decent spokeshave can safely knock this out in an hour. You can leave the ends round for simple joinery.


https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodworking-tips-1206jun/spokeshave.html

I was thinking the very same thing as Jim. Start with a rectangular part and use the spokeshave to round it over. Or you could even use a block plane.

[lowell holmes]

I would try cutting the end flats cross cut . You could do it with you table saw miter gauge or with a sled.

[joe webb]

How many rungs?
A decent spokeshave can safely knock this out in an hour. You can leave the ends round for simple joinery.


https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodworking-tips-1206jun/spokeshave.html


18 rungs that are 36" long :(

[Jared Sankovich]

Do you know anyone with a shaper (or moulder even) it would be a really easy and quick job.

[Curt Harms]

Ditch the dowels. They're inconsistent and tricky to machine. A bullnose on square stock is the obvious solution. Build yourself a simple router table with a fence.

That's what I was thinking. All that would be required would be a large roundover bit. Would require a router table though I'd think. Here's a souce for a bullnose bit if Joe is interested. That bit is not bearing guided so it'd require a fence of some sort.

https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_bull.html

[Pete Staehling]

I'd definitely skip the dowels and use a round over bit on the router table to round over some rectangular pieces. If you don't have a router table I have done a lot of similar round over work with a router clamped upside down in the side vise on my bench. I like to have a fence for round overs rather than just use the roller on the bit, but an improvised one in the form of a piece of wood clamped to the base plate works fine. The fence isn't absolutely necessary though. I just find it easier to keep everything under control.

[Thomas McCurnin]

My gym had (past tense, covid-19) round rungs. They simply squared off the ends to square tenons into matching mortises on the rails. That sounds way easier to me.

[Pete Staehling]

Jointer/Planer? The first pass or 2 might be a bit tricky without something to keep it from rolling. Maybe a block tacked to one end, or a handscrew clamp?

I'm kind of in the 'dowels are ugly' camp though. 45's on a rectangle and round it with a plane sounds reasonable, and you can choose the wood.
I'd feel safer running them through a thickness sander especially with clamps and whatnot

[Brian Holcombe]

As Pete mentions, use a round-over bit on a table mounted router.

If you don't have a router table, then now is a good time to buy one. :D