Make small pulls with a modified pencil sharpener
If you're making a project such as a spice box that requires lots of small pulls but you don't have a lathe, a modified cheap pencil sharpener works great.I needed a bunch of small pulls for a spice-box project, but I don’t have a lathe. I modified a cheap pencil sharpener for the job, and it worked great. It works a lot like the large drill-driven devices that chair makers use to create round tenons. A pencil sharpener normally creates a smooth angle that ends at a point. But if you grind away part of the blade (you might also need to grind off part of the plastic housing), it will cut a sloped section and a straight one, which will act as a tenon. Remove the blade from the housing to grind it safely. Start with dowel stock in your species of choice, twist one end into the sharpener, and then cut off the pull at the length you need. My pulls were just 1/4 in. dia., but sharpeners exist that can handle dowels 3/8 in. dia. Or more.
—Ken Zoller, Sharon, Mass.
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