What is this used for?

[Anna McGrath]

Uploading an image of a small metal half inch round shape solid cylinder. Point at one end , flat on other.

I wanted to know what it was used for. I have 4 different sizes.
L

[Jamie Buxton]

It's a center finder for dowels. Say you've drilled a hole for a dowel, and you want to make a matching hole in some other piece of wood. You put that pictured thing in the first hole, put the two pieces of wood together, and bang them so the point of the thing marks where to drill on the other piece of wood.

[Lee Schierer]

It's a center finder for dowels. Say you've drilled a hole for a dowel, and you want to make a matching hole in some other piece of wood. You put that pictured thing in the first hole, put the two pieces of wood together, and bang them so the point of the thing marks where to drill on the other piece of wood.

Exactly, they come in different sizes, usually as a set of two for each size.

[David Buchhauser]

Uploading an image of a small metal half inch round shape solid cylinder. Point at one end , flat on other.

I wanted to know what it was used for. I have 4 different sizes.
L

Transfer punch for matching hole locations.
David

[Steve Demuth]

It's a center finder for dowels. Say you've drilled a hole for a dowel, and you want to make a matching hole in some other piece of wood. You put that pictured thing in the first hole, put the two pieces of wood together, and bang them so the point of the thing marks where to drill on the other piece of wood.

And for the most part, they aren't very useful. That pattern in particular will make a dimple too large and too difficult to center a drill bit to do precision alignment of parts. Occassionally useful for some specialty jobs, but nothing you want to build a joinery "practice" on.

[Anna McGrath]

Uploading an image of a small metal half inch round shape solid cylinder. Point at one end , flat on other.

I wanted to know what it was used for. I have 4 different sizes.


thank you for your replies that is really helpful
L

thank you all for your replies - that is really helpful

[Andy D Jones]

Transfer punch for matching hole locations.
David

Right use, wrong tool.

Transfer punches are longer, and do not have a flange. They work with a through hole in one piece, to mark the corresponding centers for holes to be drilled in the (often metal) mating workpiece. They are struck/pressed directly, through the hole in the first piece, driving the point into the mating workpiece. They are usually made of steel, and hardened, for marking steel/iron.

These are dowel centers, which are designed to work in a blind hole in one piece, to mark the corresponding center for the hole in the mating workpiece. The first piece is used to press the dowel center's point into the mating workpiece. As such, they are often cast out of softer metal, and are thus not useful in metalworking.

-- Andy - Arlington TX

[Steve Demuth]

thank you all for your replies - that is really helpful

Anna,

Just out of curiousity, how did you come by a set of these dowel points, if not by purchasing them for their intended use?

[Osvaldo Cristo]

https://youtu.be/Jhjc9ZSPB0U

[Lee Schierer]

And for the most part, they aren't very useful. That pattern in particular will make a dimple too large and too difficult to center a drill bit to do precision alignment of parts. Occassionally useful for some specialty jobs, but nothing you want to build a joinery "practice" on.

The dimple made depends on how hard you press the two mating parts together. I find that light pressure works pretty well and leaves a nice center point for a brad point bit. Dowels like biscuits add little strength to edge joints, though the can help with alignment of pieces.

[Anna McGrath]

Anna,

Just out of curiousity, how did you come by a set of these dowel points, if not by purchasing them for their intended use?

They seem to have been shipped with some Dremel or Kreg accessories (maybe in error).

[Anna McGrath]

Thanks Andy for the clarification and Osvaldo for the video.

Now for creating a project to use them.