Dowel plate

[No skills]

So here we are all new an shiney eh

Anybody made their own dowel plate before? £50 for a lie half nelson one had me laughing so much I nearly spilt my tea.

Got some chunky offcuts of regular mild steel plate at work (10mm and some 20mm), would this be good enough if heat treated some how?

Any thoughts?

 

[marcros]

So here we are all new an shiney eh

Anybody made their own dowel plate before? £50 for a lie half nelson one had me laughing so much I nearly spilt my tea.

Got some chunky offcuts of regular mild steel plate at work (10mm and some 20mm), would this be good enough if heat treated some how?

Any thoughts?

If you do make it work, i would happily buy one off you because the £50 is putting me off, and nobody else appears to supply them.

 

[Jacob]

I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
It's very useful.

 

[marcros]

I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
It's very useful.

tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?

how thick is the plate?

 

[Jacob]

I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
It's very useful.

tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?

how thick is the plate?

er - getting wider going down from the cutting edge. I've got it mounted at one end of my bench. I've seen pictures of people using it loose but this looks difficult to me.
Thickness, must be 1/4" or more, I'll have a look.

 

[marcros]

I got a local engineering firm to make me one. £25 with holes 3/4, 5/8, 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16 inch. They need to be tapered slightly. They used tool steel. Mild steel probably not hard enough but I wouldn't know.
It's very useful.

tapered towards the cutting edge I assume, ie bottom of hole rather than top?

how thick is the plate?

er - getting wider going down from the cutting edge. I've got it mounted at one end of my bench. I've seen pictures of people using it loose but this looks difficult to me.
Thickness, must be 1/4" or more, I'll have a look.

so, for want of a better decription, relieved after the dowl is to size?

 

[jimi43]

Hi NS

I don't think you can heat treat mild steel...

If you are going to make one I'd use some tool steel plate (gauge plate)....

How big did you want this plate?

Jim

 

[marcros]

would there be any interest in a group buy?

 

[liamscanlan]

I may be interested in a group purchase but need to do a little research first....
Liam

 

[jasonB]

Gauge plate (ground flat stock) would be the best option, this is a higher carbon steel so can be hardened & tempered.

J

 

[marcros]

Gauge plate (ground flat stock) would be the best option, this is a higher carbon steel so can be hardened & tempered.

J

I will have a word with a machine shop locally, find out some approx costs of say a dozen. That way if anybnody wants one we have a rough price.

 

[AndyT]

I've made one, probably out of mild steel, but it seemed fairly hard to drill and wore out hacksaw blades so it might be something harder. I'll post some pictures this evening when I get back home.

 

[jasonB]

From my MSC cataloge 18" length of 1/4"x2" would be £17.39 or if you go metric a 500mm length of 6x50mm is £20.00 both plus VAT.

A lot of the model engineering suppliers will do it in half lengths of 9" but you pay for the privilage.

J

 

[Dangermouse]

To make a good plate that would last a long time, Tool Steel is needed. This can be hardened after its been made and would last a very long time. Mild steel cannot be hardened, although it would do the job, it wouldn't keep an edge very long.

 

[marcros]

From my MSC cataloge 18" length of 1/4"x2" would be £17.39 or if you go metric a 500mm length of 6x50mm is £20.00 both plus VAT.

A lot of the model engineering suppliers will do it in half lengths of 9" but you pay for the privilage.

J

i have a local guy- similar prices but no vat to add. might get a bit of discount for quantity. might be able to wangle a deal with cromwell, or get machine shop to supply and make holes.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Wouldn't a leaf spring do? you could probably pick one up from a breaker - it'd give you steel for all sorts of things, if you're into making your own stuff.

 

[CHJ]

Tool Steel/Gauge plate is the way to go but if you have a load of Mild Steel to hand then it could be used after Case Hardening the outer surface, purchasing the bone meal/case hardening compound may well set you back as much as a lump of tool steel though.

I have made odd sized 'QMax' type cutters and punches for use on aluminium and brass from case hardened Mild Steel and they last several years.

 

[houtslager]

yep I made one years ago from some scrap 1/2" steel dunno if its plate or just orny steel.
I drilled a load of holes and left the burr on, this side I use as the top face, , cleave the wanted timber to oversize and using a blooddy big hammer belt it through, get a 90% good with the rest breaking

K

will post a piccie of it when I can.

 

[dickm]

yep I made one years ago from some scrap 1/2" steel dunno if its plate or just orny steel.
I drilled a load of holes and left the burr on, this side I use as the top face, , cleave the wanted timber to oversize and using a blooddy big hammer belt it through, get a 90% good with the rest breaking

Ditto. Unless you are using the plate an awful lot, MS is probably adequate.

A trick which has been used is apparently to drill right through a Picador drill bit stand and use that; very precise, but not very long lasting.

 

[AndyT]

Here's mine, to demonstrate that you don't need exceptional metal working skills to make something that works!

The steel was bought from a scrapyard and was quite hard - what's the difference between hot and cold-rolled? Could it be whichever one is harder?

The most important thing is to get a sharp edge to the holes, which I did just by filing and scraping across the surface.