Please see picture. what is the best way to remove this dowell? I need to install a longer one. I have a drill press but do not know how to hold the filial so that the press could drill out the dowell. I am thinking the dowell is glued in- it from the top of a pencil post bed, will need to do it 4 times.
Replies
One possibility would be to chuck it in a lathe - if you have one.
Frosty
How old is it? If it is old, the glue might be hide glue that would soften up with heat.
Other than that, the only way I can think is to drill it out. You might use a wooden clamp on its side to hold the finial upright and then clamp the wood clamp to the drill press table with some other clamp.
" There'll be no living with her now" - Captain Jack Sparrow
make by a company less than year ago maybe 2 months.
problem is how to drill out the old dowell
second half of my reply has a suggestion on that. It is still early here and my brain is not fully awake yet, so that was all I can come up with. Maybe someone else will chime in with another suggestion
" There'll be no living with her now" - Captain Jack Sparrow
Why drill it out?
Just cut it off with a handsaw (flush cutting if you have one), and start anew.
1. Cut off the existing dowels with a flush cut saw.
2. Make a jig to hold the finials for redrilling on the drill press. Seems like a mini wood table with a couple of graduated forstner holes could easily be fashioned to allow the top of the finial to hang under the top of the mini-table/jig and keep the flat bottom surface square in all directions for drilling.
I would probably cut the dowel off, build a jig to hold the piece in the drill press with adequate softeners to prevent damage to the finish and then, taking a tip from an article on chair repair, drill out the dowel using a drill slightly smaller than the dowel size, say about 1/16" smaller, leaving a thin wall of the existing dowel. Next, if the dowel is glued in with water soluble glue, fill the hole with water and let it soak to soften the glue. Once the glue has softened, you should be able to collapse and remove the remnants of the dowel.
The reason for using a drill smaller than the dowel diameter is to insure that the original hole is not enlarged, allowing for some inaccuracies in centering the drill.
Good Luck.
Ralph
Hi edwardh1 ,
I would first try to tap the dowel with a hammer to try and break the bond , if it moves take a pliers and grab and twist it out .
If it will not loosen up the next method I would try would be to cut it off about flush , then use a standard size drywall type screw make a awl pilot or drill with a small bit before inserting the screw . Leave enough of the screw out so you can get a claw hammer or nail puller and pry the dowel out . This method works great for broken off tenons on turnings and such .
good luck dusty
You could try to clamp the dowel in a vise and take 2 small pry bars 180 degrees apart and with a slight pressure see if the dowel will loosen up that way.
Ed,
If you had a CNC machine, you could accomplish your task with great precision. :-)
Since you don't, just hack off the dowel with a saw (nicely and cleanly, if possible). Then use an awl to make an indentation in the center of the dowel at the bottom of the finial. Then drill a hole about the length of the part of the dowel that is in the finial. Then keep increasing the size of the drills until the dowel is almost gone. Then take an awl, or an 1/8" chisel, or anything like that and scrape the rest of the dowel out.
While doing things like this, I have taken the opportunity to learn new languages. I can now curse in about five languages. But I always get the dowel out. This isn't brain surgery, merely dowel surgery. Enjoy the process. Practice multi-tasking, and learn a language. I remember my maternal grandmother, who cursed gently. One of her favorites, which she uttered in Italian, is simply translated as "Go to Naples." I guess that tells you what she thought of Naples. But then again, she was from Bari.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
32176.9 in reply to 32176.1
I would probably cut the dowel off, build a jig to hold the piece in the drill press with adequate softeners to prevent damage to the finish and then, taking a tip from an article on chair repair, drill out the dowel using a drill slightly smaller than the dowel size, say about 1/16" smaller, leaving a thin wall of the existing dowel. Next, if the dowel is glued in with water soluble glue, fill the hole with water and let it soak to soften the glue. Once the glue has softened, you should be able to collapse and remove the remnants of the dowel.
Edward,
Just what Ralph said. I've removed many a broken dowel, chair rung, spindle, etc just this way.
-Chuck
edwardh1
It looks like you have received many good ideas for removing the dowel so I won't try to top them. I do have an off-the-wall suggestion that may or may not help.
Rather than replace the dowel, plug up the hole it goes into. Then just drill it out to fit the dowel on the filial. Don't know your exact situation so this might be a dumb idea. Just thought I'd throw it out in case it would work for you.
Good luck
Bob
close!
my problem is that I need a longer dowell as I am trying to make canopy rails that will set below the finial. the idiots that put the bed together cut off the dowells to make it easier to go together so now if I add a canopy the dowells are too short. factory dowell and the hole in the top of the pencil post are much longer
15 posts on how to cut/remove a dowel....
remarkable.
Git ur done.
actually the simpler questions are hardest
Agree jack... an absolute no brainer...
Wow...I get to be 20th.
Edited 10/17/2006 9:24 pm ET by Mumda
Learning how to do things precisely paves the way for good work in the future. So, Jackplane, why don't you just drink another Guinness and fart into the cushion of you swivel chair while you look at the screen here and glower...
http://www.pbase.com/ishmael1/watersEdited 10/18/2006 6:14 am by TansuEdited 10/18/2006 6:17 am by Tansu
Edited 10/18/2006 6:18 am by Tansu
How did you know I have a swivel chair?
And your idea to remove the dowel was the by far the most complex and unnecessarily involved, of all posts.
It's not hard to remove a dowel. By time all these posts were up, the job should've been done. And on to the next task.
the reason I posted it was that I wanted expert opinions the finials are off a new (expensive to us) bed and the company just stopped their 800 man plant firing everyone (Sumter cabinet company) and "moved" to china so they are now a distribution center. I did not want to mess up the finials or the wife would be pixxed.
Dude, your question was completely legitimate. The decent folk around here are happy to offer suggestions of what they might do to achieve optimum results with the least amount of effort. The sh*ts around here will belittle and bemoan. Ignore them. They are small people (and probably have small tools).
Remember, kindness costs you nothing and is its own reward.
Fair play. Hand tool skills are important, but can be difficult for a beginner. It's a legit query, and you have several options to choose from.
best,
jp
Fine woodworking is, at times, "complex and unnecessarily involved". I wouldn't think a soccer fan would object to a little friendly rough play. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.http://www.pbase.com/ishmael1/waters
It's not about feelings.
It's about a simple solution to a simple problem.
And it's not about senseless self-promotion which has no place on this thread.
Check yourself.
I'm post 30 too!!!!
see if we can make it to 40.
Go to store and buy a dowel center marking jig. Use this to mark center point on end of dowel. Using a compex jig of your own design, drill a hole that has a diameter equal to one third the diameter of the dowel into the end of the dowel. This must be centered exactly (that's why you had to get the marking jig). Drill hole accurately, it must be straight, i.e. perfectly in line with the dowel... but this will be a piece o' cake since you made a jig to guide you. Drill hole at least one and a half inches deep (38mm if you use metric). Now, that complete, get another dowel that has a length equal to the required final dowel length for the finial less the existing dowel that is too short. Drill a corresponding hole into its center... this is a similiar effort as the other one except you will probably have to make another complicated jig to hold this dowel. Good, that's done. Now get a dowel that is the diameter of the holes already drilled. (I hope you chose a drill bit that allows for a commercially made dowel to be used here, if not.... post a query on how to make one.) Insert the little dowel with glue into the original dowel and then slip the dowel extension onto, with glue, the little dowel. DON'T GET ANY GLUE ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE DOWEL! There! You have successfully extended the dowel on the finial without having to remove it. If you did it accurately, all will be well in the world and this post will succeed in being the most complicated. If something went awry, then all you gotta do is saw off the dowel mess about a quarter inch from the finial......drill out most with a bit that's a little smaller than the diameter.....pinch the resulting hollow dowel with a pair of pliers..... pull out the resultant cracked dowel bits with some pliers..... pry out any remaining bits...... drink a beer, you're done.
Impressive. Your second post to Knots and you're already insulting people. Definitely way ahead of the curve. Keep up the good work.
"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other is that heat comes from the furnace." - Aldo Leopold
I am assuming that the dowel is 1/2" in Dia. Take a piece of 1/2" ply and drill a 5/8" hole in the center of it. Then brad nail or glue another piece of 1/2" ply to the first piece of ply. Install a 5/8" bushing and a 1/2" router bit into a plunge cut router. Plunge cut a 1/2" hole through the second piece. Now put the finial/dowel into the 1/2" hole from the back side and install some cleats to keep to work centered during the cut. Cut the dowel on the finial short enough that it will center in the 1/2" hole , but not so long that it interfers woth the bushing. Figure a way to secure the work and plung cut that dowel out. Hope this helps.
Bill
Try placing the dowel in a vice, then heat the dowel carefully with a heatgun at the finial. The heat will soften the glue. Try turning the finial slightly, if it turns it will pull free from the dowel.
If this doesn't work, cut the dowel off . Bore a hole smaller than the dowel, about half the size of the dowel.Then bore the rest out with the proper drill bit.You can hold the finial with a yoke sized to fit it. Measure the diameter of the finial base,I'll assume it is 1 1/2" for now. Bore a 1 1/2" hole in a 2x4,saw it down the length. The saw kerf is sbout an 1/8" or so.Clamp the 2x4 together with the finial inside the hole. The finial will be held tight because the hole winds up a saw kerf less than the 1 1/2" hole,about 1 3/8". Now center the yolk and bore .
mike
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