Sources for metric dowels????

[jim price]

I've looked ALL over the place, got the cold shoulder from what looked like a good "source" in Seattle, but have yet to find ANY source whatsoever for metric dowels of sizes that could be used for knitting needles. It would be nice to have a selection of hardwoods in metric dowel sizes, but hay, there just doesn't seem to be any places around (which sounds unbelievable to me cause alot of the world is metric).

Whatsup!!??

[Tony Joyce]

What diameter and lengths and species are you looking for?

Tony Joyce

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.timbecon.com.au/products/dowelling-372_0.aspx

Or you can make your own:

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=DP

:)

[Curt Fuller]

I'd use a bandsaw and a spindle gouge or skew. Cut your favorite exotic into stips slightly larger than the metric size knitting needle you want to make and put it between centers and turn it round. You could make a guage to measure the diameters. Most the woods that dowels are made from aren't very pretty. But some nice cocobolo, bloodwood, canarywood, etc etc etc knitting needles would be very pretty.

[Phil Thien]

Wow, I didn't even realize sweaters were imperial/metric. I'll have to watch for this if I travel to Europe (I'd hate to accidentally buy a metric sweater and then find out once I got home that it won't work with my imperial pants). :eek:

[jim price]

Well Joyce, there are lots of sizes, but lets say 3.75, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, and 8mm would be great to have, but even leaving out the fractional sizes would be good too. Lengths, could vary up from 8" to 14".

Thanks too, to the other responders. I'd turn my own but haven't a steady rest and worry that even with one i'd have trouble keeping the diameters consistant.

[Steve Trauthwein]

One can make dowels of their own with a simple homemade jig, a drill and a router. The jig consist of a square piece of wood with a hole drilled through to just beyond the middle that will just allow square stock larger than your dowel to spin. An exit hole on the same plane is drilled the size of the dowel then sanded a little to let the finished dowel pass through. A larger perpendicular hole is cut through the center to allow the jig to mount over a router bit.
Once you make a specific jig you can turn out dowels of any size.

Regards, Steve

[Curt Fuller]

Thanks too, to the other responders. I'd turn my own but haven't a steady rest and worry that even with one i'd have trouble keeping the diameters consistant.

Jim, just in case you want to give it a try, you can turn small diameter things like knittin needles and crochet hooks without a steady rest. If you have a cone center for your tailstock and your lathe has a hollow spindle, hold the small pieces of wood in small pin type jaws in your chuck with all but a couple inches of the wood being back inside the chuck and into the hollow spindle. Just work on the short part that's outside the chuck. As you get it done, just keep sliding more out of the jaws, holding the other end with a cone center so that you're always working up close to the chuck where there is minimal flex.