Best jig/method to cut thin rods
Dragoslav
| Posted in Jigs, Fixtures, Tips & Tricks on
Hello! I am trying to make wooden rods from spruce 7mm (thickness) and about 30cm long, or a bit longer. (9/32 x 11 13/16 inches).
Except for the method with the block plane (square>octagonal>circle) which is not so fast, what else can I use?
I made a dowel maker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5QVkyOTZZY but the problem is that there are many splits on the wood after and it needs too much sanding (+too much dust). I made another one from hardwood and a very sharp blade, again the same.
Other woods I tested respond very well to this type of dowel maker but spruce has problems.
What about the dowel metal plate? Does it work fast or it needs a lot of hammering and the results are not the best?
Thank you very much
Replies
I've done this by feeding a square blank through a drilled block on the router table. Chucking the blank into a drill helps make things go smoother.
Holes are concentric, one sized to the square blanks's outside corners and the other to the dowel size. I made the hole for the bit by raising it through the block for zero-clearance.
See the drawing below.
Very nice idea. I have seen the same, except the router was on top and a box base was made of plywood. What bit do you use for the router in your case? Thank you
I use an upcut spiral. It drags the junk out pretty effectively.
Haven’t worked spruce before, but hope this helps. Best!
Thank you. This is what I am doing at the moment. It is an effective method but not for many pieces.
Depends on how many you need. For just a few, a block plane is pretty quick. Dowel plate don't work well an anything longer than a few inches, in my experience.
Lee valley makes a dowel maker that you can fine tune to make any size you want up to an inch or so. Great machine, pretty pricey.
You are right about the plate. I was thinking the same, that is just for very short lengths.
I've made 8" dowels in riven cherry with a dowel plate, but they were not pretty and took some serious beating to make. No way spruce survives.
I do the same sort of thing MJ showed. It works quite well.
https://flic.kr/p/7W8pdT
Thank you. It leaves a nice surface at the end I see.
It can leave a nice surface. That image shows the dowel right out of the jig with no other attention. If you get the router bit set too far in, it'll leave a rough surface. which can be useful when making dowels for joinery.
I think the issue is soft wood.
I use the Veritas dowel maker(s) which is very similar to the shop made ones I see. I had problems with the rough finish that needed lots of sanding too.
What I found was that getting the blade really sharp, spinning the dowel quickly and slow feed rates really improved the finish. Just a minor and quick sanding was enough. Sharp blade made the difference but the feed rate was just as important!
I have seen in the past those dowel makers. Veritas sells also a dowel cutter that is mounted on table. Both are very expensive and can serve only some specific sizes.
The table mounted tool has a variety of inserts, each of which can be adjusted to make slightly smaller and larger dowels. Taken together, you can make any size from 3/16ths to an inch in diameter. It's very flexible. But it is pricey.
It is pricey and here in Europe much more because of import charges. Also, Veritas sells each part of this tool separately and that makes this tool awful pricey.
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