Replies

1. 
   roc | Jan 08, 2012 06:36pm | #1

   Hear you go

   Since I do more metal than wood I would use this. is a metal lathe. Had it now for about twenty five years. 13 x 36

   http://www.jettools.com/us/manufacturing/en/product.html?node=4642&product=361765

   There are a couple other things :

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBp4uXeCG1Q

   and

   http://www.veritastools.com/products/Page.aspx?p=155

   PS: the links seem partly screwed up right now hopefully they work on your end.

1. 
   Dale1 | Jan 09, 2012 12:01pm | #3

   Roc: Thanks for the links. I plan to use 1/2" dowels and need to machine them down to 3/8" at the ends. I didn't  find any tools smaller than 5/8" and they are expensive.

   My present thought is to use the table saw. I will make a 1/2" hole in a  piece of 2x4 and clamp it to the top of the table saw parallel to the blade and about 1/8" away from the blade. Then I will push the dowel  through the hole and use the saw place to remove the wood and rotate it to machine the whole surface. I think it can control the diameter very precisely this way. I would use the fence as a stop.

   I haven't tried it yet. I will let you know if it works.

   Dale

1. 
   RalphBarker | Jan 09, 2012 12:30pm | #4

   "Danger, Dale Robinson, Danger"

   Your last name probably isn't Robinson, but if you remember the old TV show with Robbie the Robot, the title will make sense.

   The arrangement on the table saw you described seems risky to me. The amount of force involved with the saw teeth catch the dowel can be amazing.

   Instead, how about creating a similar setup, but using a plug cutter in a mounted/clamped electric drill?

2. 
   roc | Jan 09, 2012 09:52pm | #10

   Sorry I should have given link for the one in video

   Here is the Veritas 3/8 for $28

   http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=52401&cat=1,180,42288,52401

   PS: and 7/16 ( same price )

2. 
   roc | Jan 08, 2012 06:41pm | #2

   Please post photos

   I would find a good drying rack or two quite useful.  We don't have or use an electric dryer.

   It would be great if you would post photos here when the racks are completed.

3. 
   caryhson1 | Jan 09, 2012 01:19pm | #5

   sounds like the speed tenon to me!

   Its "safe" with experience and  maybe a little luck.

   https://www.finewoodworking.com/item/42295/behold-the-speed-tenon

4. 
   swenson | Jan 09, 2012 02:04pm | #6

   One of your posts has you removing 1/16  and one has you removing 1/8 of an inch.  I take it that the holes are allready drilled that they go in, so just changing hole sizes won't work.  If the dowel doesn't have to be steppped down to the correct size, why not just sand a taper on each end 'till it bottoms out in its hole?

   I had to taper every one of these.

   
1. 
   roc | Jan 09, 2012 09:47pm | #9

   Crib

   Oh man !  That's cool !

1. 
   swenson | Jan 10, 2012 12:42am | #11

   Thanks roc

   Made it seven years ago for first grandchild.  I just posted some more of them on Knots Gallery.

5. 
   zolton | Jan 09, 2012 04:39pm | #7

   Dale,

   You might be better off creating a jig that uses a router and a half inch router bit to do the milling of the dowel. You'd set it similarly to the tablesaw jig you thought of first.

   You'd get a smoother cut with the router, and you'd get it faster than you would with the tablesaw.

   Zolton

6. 
   wdwerker | Jan 09, 2012 07:43pm | #8

   dowel pins

   I have an upcoming project with similar needs.  I am going to use my router table. Cut a 45% angled "vee" in a block of wood, drill a hole thru the center of the "Vee", extend a router bit up to shave the rabbet on the dowel, spin the dowel with a small cordless drill.  You could drill a hole to insert the dowel into and a hole at 90 degrees to hold the router bit. With a vaccum to remove the chips it should work just fine.

7. 
   Dale1 | Mar 03, 2012 05:11am | #12

   Machining dowel pins

   I just realized that I hadn't reported my experience in using the table saw to machine dowel pins.

    I drilled a half inch hole in a 2"x4" and clamped it to the table saw top parallel to, and about 1/8" away from, the blade. I pushed the dowel through the hole into the blade and adjusted the blade height to adjust the diameter of the finished piece. I found that using my dado blades worked best. I used the fence as a stop.

   It worked very well except that the surface of the machined part was a little rough. The dowel was very well constrained by the 2"x4" and only a very small amount of wood was being removed, so I saw no safety concerns.

   If I were doing it again, I would try the router table approach described by wdwerker.

   Thanks,

   Dale