Replies

1. 
   RogerL | Oct 03, 2004 10:47pm | #1

   These are Lee Valley power tenon cutters (leevalley.com).  They might do the trick.  To cut by hand try making a mark on the end of your board with a brad point bit that has "wings" as the cutting edge.  It will give you a reference for the tenon diameter.  Then use a spoke shave to pare away.  Finish with a sharp chisel and file and sand paper.  If you want square shoulders you will have to saw them first.  If the tenon goes all the way through the chair cut a kerf in the tenon and hammer in a wedge from below.  Put glue on both the tennon and on the wedge.  Be sure to cut the kerf so the wedge is not with the grain of the chair seat as it can split it along the grain Just like a piece of fire wood.

    

   Goog luck  Roger

    

    

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1. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 04, 2004 03:32am | #3

   Thanks. I'm not clear how I could use the tool you pictured.

   Are they used in an electric drill?

   Thanks

1. 
   RogerL | Oct 04, 2004 02:10pm | #4

   Yes it is used on a drill like a giant pencil sharpener.  I've made them by hand for a rustic chair I made with my son. and it goes pretty fast.  Check out your regional library web site and do a search for rustic furniture.  They will give a better descritpion of how to make them by hand.

   Good luck Roger

2. 
   lwj2 | Oct 04, 2004 03:14am | #2

   Try taking a piece of tool steel -- an old plane cutter, forex -- and boring the size hole in it that you want your dowel to be.

   Get the dowel close to that in size, by filing or turning, then drive it through the hole in the steel.

   I used this method to make dowels from butternut for the bed I made.

   Good luck.

   Leon Jester

   Roanoke VA

1. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 04, 2004 07:04pm | #9

   Leon:

   How thick must the steel be?

   Is there a way to sharpen the edge

   of the hole or is that necessary.

   Thanks

   Ken

1. 
   lwj2 | Oct 05, 2004 04:32am | #13

   Ken:

   I used an old cutter from a plane. If you use a good jobber's drill the hole will be fairly sharp with a 90° edge. Use some 220 grit w/d paper with a bit of oil to flatten it. If it stops cutting cleanly, re-flatten it, that's effectively sharpening the edge.

   I went through quite a few dowels before I had to do this again.

   The dowels I was making were about four inches long, I put the cutter across the top of a machinist's vice open just past the hole and bunged the dowels through using a wood mallet of some sort.

   It works easier if you make the dowels long enough that you can sand a bevel around one end, use that end to start the dowel through the cutter.

   Good luck.Leon Jester

   Roanoke VA

1. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 05, 2004 06:44am | #14

   leon:

   Thanks to you and all the others who offered

   suggestions. What is a jobbers drill? I drilled

   a hole with an ordinary drill bit and hand drill. I didn't

   flatten the steel plate like you did and probably won't

   have the same results you did.

   Ken

1. 
   lwj2 | Oct 06, 2004 02:26am | #15

   Ken:

   A jobber's drill is a plain metal-working drill bit, also called a twist bit.

   Flattening it is something you can always do later. If it works, then it's OK, in my book.

   FWIW, I used a drill press rather than a hand held drill, IMO it's easier to get a 90° hole that way. (Which probably says something about how well I use a hand held drill.)

   Leon Jester

   Roanoke VA

2. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 06, 2004 07:23pm | #16

   Thanks:

   Regrettably I no longer have my drill press.

   Ken

3. 
   Roger1 | Oct 04, 2004 05:02pm | #5

   Hi; I had the same problem with my back slats on a Maloof rocker that I finished this summer. I drilled the holes in the seat and in the head support at the proper angle. Then I put a circle plastic template, I bought at the stationary store, on the end of the back slat and drew the circle. Since the dowel was less than an inch long, it was easy to put the back slat in the vise and round over the edges to form my dowel for the holes drilled. It only took a few minutes for each of my seven back slats. Because all the angles were not just right on all the slats, I had to remove more wood on some as I test fit each one. Epoxy made them fit perfect. Roger.

4. 
   BillLindau | Oct 04, 2004 06:52pm | #6

   Ken, I use laminated backrests for my rockers to get the lumbar support. I use 4 pieces each 1/8" by 2". When I glue these together in a form, I end up with a piece shaped like I want which is 1/2" by 2".  At each end I reduce the 2" down to 7/8" and round the edges with a 1/4" round over bit. The mortises in the seat are drilled with a 1/2" spiral bit. They are 7/8" wide.  The roundover on the backrest ends matches the round end of the mortise. This is the quickest and most satisfactory method I have found. When I was using solid backrests that were bandsawed, I would mount the piece in a lathe and turn the ends down to the size of the mortise. I like having a mortise wider than it is deep to keep the backrest from twisting. This is only an issue if the backrests are left loose.  I tried this for a while thinking that they would conform to the back better if loose, but they creaked as they moved in the mortise and that seemed a bit unsettling. So now I glue them and they still flex enough to conform to the back. Bill

1. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 04, 2004 07:01pm | #7

   Bill:

   This sounds like a good idea. Do you use the router hand

   held or in a table?

   Thanks

   Ken

1. 
   BillLindau | Oct 05, 2004 03:27am | #12

   Ken, because the backrests are bent, they can't be worked on a router table. In fact the length of the backrest that has been reduced to 7/8" is determined by the size of the base on the router. So, I use a laminate trim router, because it's  base is so small. The base has to slide on the edge, the 1/2" surface.  So enough of the  backrest has to be reduced to 7/8" to accommodate one half the base width plus the depth of the mortise. Bill

5. 
   jazzdogg | Oct 04, 2004 07:02pm | #8

   Dovetail,

   When turning square stock into round parts I find it very helpful to start by marking the work with pencil. As another poster suggested, mark the end of the stock with a circle template or compass. I also draw 4 pencil lines the full length of the tenon that visually divide the part into quarters.

   Next, I use a drawknife (or spokeshaves for small parts) to shape the square stock into an octagon. I find it much easier to monitor my progress and control the shape and dimensions of the piece by progressing from a four-sided spindle, to eight, then sixteen, and finally a round tenon than trying to go directly from square to round.

   I move to finer tools as the part moves closer to becoming round. For example, I'll usually start with a drawknife, then move to a spokeshave, and then to a #49 or #50 patternmakers rasp, and finish off with a card scraper if necessary. Shaping the first tenon this way will probably take fifteen or twenty minutes, but you'll get faster and more accurate with each successive tenon.

   As the tenons approach their final size and shape, I test them for accuracy using a go/no-go gauge, which is nothing more than a scrap of hardwood into which I've drilled a through-hole the desired diameter of the completed tenon.

   Before assembly, I stick the ends of the spindles into a cardboard box "kiln" so the tenons are inside and the rest of the spindle is outside. There's a lightbulb in the box to dry and shrink the tenons. When dry (after a few days), assemble and they'll slip together fairly easily; as the tenons reach equilibrium moisture content the seat and spindles will lock together very tightly.

   I hope this is helpful.

   -Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

1. 
   dovetail3 | Oct 04, 2004 09:32pm | #10

   Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed

   reply. Would you dry the doweled ends even if

   the wood has been previously kiln dryed? I live in

   Palm Desert and there is little moisture iin the air.

   Ken

1. 
   jazzdogg | Oct 05, 2004 02:21am | #11

   Dovetail,

   I make chairs from green wood, so it's a no-brainer for me. If you have access to a moisture meter, you can test your work and other pieces that have acclimated to your shop to see if the difference between them is remarkable.

   If not, another approach that I've heard of, but not tried, calls for compressing the tenons before assembling the joints - the glue will cause them to expand, theoretically locking the joint together more tightly than would be possible using conventional assembly methods. This is essentially how biscuits, made of compressed beechwood, work. I say theoretically because the results are predicated on the amount, and uniformity, of the compression you subject the tenons to before assembly.

   Good luck,-Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

1. 
   Clay | Oct 07, 2004 08:52am | #17

   You can compress the tenons nicely with a simple pair of channellocks.  Just squeeze em down till the teeth marks look about right.  This method is far easier and much more effective and more trouble free than the kiln drying systems. Try it!!