Need idea for small diameter dowel pin making

[AlanS]

I like to accent my boxes with corner 'pins' rather than splines.   1/8" birch dowels are easy to buy, but smaller diameter is not available.  To date, I use a metal drill gauge guide (the metal plate with all the drill holes in it) and pound a sliver of the wood I like through the hole size I want.   Works ok, but wondering if anyone has tried to make small diameter pins?

[Willyou]

I do as you do except I usually dig out a piece of scrap metal from my scrap bin and drill the size hole I want for the dowel and then pound through that. I will usually drill a couple of larger holes to pound through in progression working down to the one I want. The only advantage I can think of is that the drilled holes usually have a bit of a bur left on the exit side. This helps in cutting the dowel.

[Stwood_]

I did a lot of shaker boxes some years back, and used round toothpicks, which are about a 1/16th in the middle of the pick.

[EdL]

I did a lot of shaker boxes some years back, and used round toothpicks, which are about a 1/16th in the middle of the pick.

This......or use the long wood cotton swabs. You know, the ones you used to clean the heads on your 8 track.  


Ed

[Cooler]

Brass rod is easy to find.  As is brass wire.  Copper too.  With a coat of clear it will stay bright.

Sterling silver is also available, but not as easy to find.  It is not as cheap but you only need small amounts.  I found some 1/4":

https://www.riogrande.com/Product/sterli...rod/101980

You don't need glue.  Push in the silver.  It is malleable, so tap the ends with a ball peen hammer and it will expand to fill the hole.

These people sell 1/8" diameter.

http://www.pyromet999.com/silver-rods.html

I've done business with Rio Grande and they are very reliable and reputable.  I don't know the pyromet.

[dry heat]

Brass rod is easy to find.  As is brass wire.  Copper too.  With a coat of clear it will stay bright.

Sterling silver is also available, but not as easy to find.  It is not as cheap but you only need small amounts.  I found some 1/4":

https://www.riogrande.com/Product/sterli...rod/101980

You don't need glue.  Push in the silver.  It is malleable, so tap the ends with a ball peen hammer and it will expand to fill the hole.

These people sell 1/8" diameter.

http://www.pyromet999.com/silver-rods.html

I've done business with Rio Grande and they are very reliable and reputable.  I don't know the pyromet.

[dry heat]

I just get it close and chuck wood or metal in a power drill and use appropriate grit paper and spin it till it fits.

[Cooler]

An article on the subject in Fine Woodworking Magazine.  Apparently they draw it through a hole in a piece of steel.

See:  http://www.finewoodworking.com/2011/08/0...n-dowels-2

You will have to make your own plates but it should not be too hard to do.  Lie-Nielson no longer shows it.

[Rob Young]

An article on the subject in Fine Woodworking Magazine.  Apparently they draw it through a hole in a piece of steel.

See:  http://www.finewoodworking.com/2011/08/0...n-dowels-2

You will have to make your own plates but it should not be too hard to do.  Lie-Nielson no longer shows it.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/product/dowe...e-standard

FYI, if you have a vice with a very deep throat, you can use it to push the blank through the plate instead of pounding.  Add two blocks of wood a bit longer than the dowel you need to make (usually 3" is sufficient for what I've done with dowels).  If your vice opens up to 10" it means you can easily push through a 3" piece of wood.  I get a better dowel doing this and less breakage and way less noise.

Edit to add, I've also put dowel stock into my drill press chuck (takes a little finagling), spin it and use a metal drill index plate to make dowels.  Works pretty well if you sharpen the end of an existing dowel and then run it through 1/64" at a time.  Great if you need an odd ball size just a little smaller than something you already have. Just hang on tight to the drill index plate..

[bandsaw]

Lee Valley sells "micro dowels" ` 1/12"