DIY Wood Dowel Rod

For the wood craftsman, one of the most satisfactory aspects of the craft is transforming a rough piece of wood into a stained, finished and beautiful project. Every aspect of a wood project, or wood furniture, can be made from hand, although some of the pieces can be purchased from a local home center if desired. One advantage for the carpenter who makes his own dowels is that he can create them from exotic woods, which are not available at retail outlets.

Wood stock
Table saw
Veritas dowel and tenon cutter
Bench vice
Cordless or electric drill, with 3/8-inch driver bit and socket set
220-grit sandpaper

Instructions

- 1
  Rip the wood stock with the table saw into square stock slightly larger than the final diameter of the dowel. For example, if you want to make a 1/2-inch dowel, wood stock should be ripped into strips 9/16-inch square.
- 2
  Place the Veritas dowel cutter in the bench vice. The dowel cutter looks like a large hand pencil sharpener, with wings on each side that can be gripped by the vice.
- 3
  Gently tap the proper size socket onto one end of the wood stock. For this example, use a 9/16-inch socket. Feed the other end of the stock into the dowel cutter until the stock is gripped by the cutting blade.
- 4
  Attach the driver bit to the drill, and insert the bit into the socket. Hold the drill so that the wood stock feeds level into the dowel cutter, parallel to the floor.
- 5
  Pull the drill's trigger so that the wood rotates slowly. Allow the wood to feed itself into the dowel cutter. As the wood is pulled through the dowel cutter, the tool cuts the corners off the wood stock, creating a smooth dowel.
- 6
  Sand the dowel with 220-grit sandpaper to remove any splinters.

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