Replies

1. 
   alias | Mar 18, 2003 03:26am | #1

   the attachment was taken from sandor nagyszalanczy book woodshop jigs and fixtures... although this exact jig may not be what you want , perhaps hybridizing of the jig. now i've also needed to round dowel tip i've slipped them into a piece of p.v.c pipe adjuste my fence to rest the dowel into. and spun the elongated p.v.c to achieve the easing of the edge . larger dowels , were easier than the smaller. the smaller ones i've used a pencil sharpner and a piece of sand paper, good luck. ...bear

   
1. 
   oldfred | Mar 18, 2003 07:03am | #3

   I make a jig similar to the one you show, but the hole in the block is drilled parallel to the table.  With a bearing on the end of the router bit, this works fine.  I have also used the same jig to cut wheels (disks) on the band saw and table saw.  Clamp the jig to tthe miter guage and feed the dowel through.  It helps - and saves fingers - to hook up a shop vac to gather the disks as they are cut.

    Feed the work slowly and don't force it.

2. 
   pauld | Mar 18, 2003 06:40am | #2

   Have you considered using your disc sander with a simple fence registered in the miter gauge slot to control the shaping?

3. 
   DRiseborough | Mar 18, 2003 07:05am | #4

   I've done this using a bearing-type round-over bit with a simple jig in a standard bench vice. The jig is just a pair of blocks with a couple of v-notches to hold the dowel vertical between the vice screws. The blocks need to be wide enough to create a space between the dowel and the (wooden) vice jaws for the round-over bit. There also needs to be enough space for the bit between the top of the vice and the top of the blocks. Set up the end of the dowel level with the upper edge of the vice jaws, rest the router base on the jaws and rout away.

4. 
   johnhardy | Mar 18, 2003 11:55pm | #5

   My thinking here is to make a jig for your hand-held router. If you get a 12X12 piece of plywood and cut a 3" hole in the middle, you'll have a steady platform for the router and a nice large hole where the router bit can reach down and be used to go around a dowel which is held perpendicular to the plywood. Use a bearing bit and a radius sufficient to round over the dowel.

   To hold the dowel I'd fabricate a fairly long piece (12 to 18") that consisted of two pieces at a right angle and which could be attached to the platform at a true pendicular. I'd have the two sides several inches wide for stability. You'll also need to add some 3/4 ply (or wider?) to the inside of this support, which doesn't go all the way to the plywood, so that the bit can be between the dowel and the pieces at a right angle. If you clamp these two pieces in a vise, you can then clamp the dowel in the interior of these pieces, with the top of the dowel essentially at the top of the plywood platform. Run the router bit around the dowel and, voila, you have a rounded dowel.

   John

   
   

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   Edited 3/18/2003 4:57:59 PM ET by johnhardy