dowel plates are pricey!

[PerranOak]

I want to be able to make dowels down to 3mm for decoration, pinning, etc. Therefore, they need to made from the wood that I'm using.

The Lie-Nielsen one is £40!

Any cheaper ones around?

I tried using a drill to drive a rough dowel through a 3mm hole in a piece of steel but they always end-up a bit, well, wonky!

 

[woodbloke]

I have the LN metric plate and it's worth the outlay in my view...nice piece of kit for occasional use - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

I also have the LN dowel plate . While it is a bit expensive, it's very well made and works well.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[PerranOak]

Cheers. £40 though!

Do you hammer them through?

 

[Jacob]

I asked a local engineering firm to make one from a piece of tool steel. £25
They need to be set firmly in a bench top IMHO as you do have to give them a good bashing.

 

[barkwindjammer]

RichardT is watching this post with interest, tool steel, per quoi ?

 

[Karl]

RichardT is watching this post with interest, tool steel, per quoi ?

Good idea. I'd been weighing up the LN version, of which they handily make two - imperial and metric. Surely they could be built into one plate :?

Cheers

Karl

 

[Jacob]

RichardT is watching this post with interest, tool steel, per quoi ?

If "per quoi" means "what's that" , then I don't know. He said it was "tool steel" and that's all I know. The holes are tapered slightly
PS as Aled decribes below, re LN
but straight sided for the top 1mm or so. You could have them drilled in any diameters to suit - but it's handy to have them in a close series so that you can work down e.g. 1/8" at a time.

 

[Aled Dafis]

I made one from tool steel, it's OK, but to make a proper one you really need to ream the holes to achieve the surface finish inside the hole. The LN one also has the holes tapered on the reverse side to provide some clearance for the wood as it's cut/scraped.

The outlay in setting yourself up for making proper dowel plates is quite scary, say 6 or 7 reamers, and then 6 or 7 taper reamers to suit :shock:

Cheers

Aled

Edit: Must have been typing the same time as Mr Grim.

In my case, the tool steel was O1 gauge plate.

 

[PerranOak]

Blimey!

How hard do you have to hit them? :shock:

 

[barkwindjammer]

Per quoi, I'm a cynical pineapple at heart, RichardT made some exquisite holdfasts, DibsH made an award winning router table insert-butt, these simple items looked mega complicated-only if you read all the bumf that was written about 'trajectory angles, scuffing powder, maleable vectors, secondary bovines, spirodile graphite etc etc etc :?

the old guys didn't have 'news of the world' type smatrarsery to hand, so they kept it simple stupid-KISS
steel of any grade is far tougher than nancy wood-hammer oak roundish sticks through the hole in a motorvehicular brake disc mounting bolt hole and what do you get ?

re-ass uringly expensive was a phrase invented by 'Stella Artois' not our dear departed friend Niki

get some 5mm steel plate and drill some holes

 

[woodbloke]

Blimey!

How hard do you have to hit them? :shock:

Hard :shock: :shock: ...try making 4mm dowels in Indian Ebony - Rob

 

[Richard T]

Hmmm... I guess the holes could be tapered underneath with the very top circle reamed to size ... Tool steel yes, but hardened to what? Or not?
Getting these things as good as they can be may well make them tres expensive en par with the £40 tag.
I suspect that Jacob's plate is a standard tool steel - normalised; so tough, not hard and drilled accurately - not reamed. And that dowel you've knocked out there Jacob is the best I've seen - better than results of the profesh made ones I've seen.
Leading me to surmise that all that may be needed is some tool steel plate, a centre punch and a drill press ? (pilot holes first to stop any judder)
Also looks like a very good idea to have thin plate mounted on wood like Jacob has - this disposes of the tapered undersides in metal.
Dammit; I think I just talked myself out of a job ...

 

[mtt.tr]

The outlay in setting yourself up for making proper dowel plates is quite scary, say 6 or 7 reamers, and then 6 or 7 taper reamers to suit :shock:

Cheers

Aled

Edit: Must have been typing the same time as Mr Grim.

In my case, the tool steel was O1 gauge plate.

well i have reamers so somebody give me the sizes then this wil go on the very big project list

 

[Jacob]

Hmmm... I guess the holes could be tapered underneath with the very top circle reamed to size ...

or vice versa - drilled and then the taper reamed to just short of the face

...
Also looks like a very good idea to have thin plate mounted on wood like Jacob has - this disposes of the tapered undersides in metal.
.....

About 3/8" as far as I remember, and tapered. Doesn't need to be hardened - just tough, as you have to whack them hard. Start with a split (down the grain) billet as near the size as you can get. 4" long probably max.
They come out not quite straight and a less than perfect surface, but straight grained (strong) and ideal as pegs for M&T joints , draw-bored or otherwise.

 

[monkeybiter]

To begin with I'd counter bore if you don't have taper reamers, eg. for a 10mm dowel 2mm at 10mm and the rest of the plate thickness at 11mm diameter. I would also think that finish would be improved by few very hefty whacks rather than a lot of timid taps.

Hardenable carbon steel 'gauge plate' is available from model engineering suppliers in various thicknesses and small quantities.

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Chronos_Catalogue_Gauge_Plate__Ground_Flat_Stock_285.html

 

[Jacob]

I forgot to add - one of the benefits of the dowel plate is that only a straight grained piece will get through. If the grain is crossed it'll break as you hammer it.
So it self-selects straight grained dowels, which are strongest.

 

[Richard T]

Aha - reading too fast and not listening enough - they are tapered holes. Ok.
Sounds like something most safely done on a milling machine - or at least a drill press with much more solidity than mine.
Though, if Bill Carver can peen gauge plate into dovetails, it should be possible to cold drift it .... I'll think about that, then have a nice lie down.

 

[bugbear]

I asked a local engineering firm to make one from a piece of tool steel. £25
They need to be set firmly in a bench top IMHO as you do have to give them a good bashing.

You got a new camera? Your posts have suddenly become very ... "visual".

BugBear (impressed)

 

[Jacob]

I asked a local engineering firm to make one from a piece of tool steel. £25
They need to be set firmly in a bench top IMHO as you do have to give them a good bashing.

You got a new camera? Your posts have suddenly become very ... "visual".

BugBear (impressed)

Gee thanks BB!
Old photos from an old thread. Work of seconds to copy/paste the image urls.