Drilling for dowel? Sizing

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pe2dave

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Bought some oak dowel, marked as 10mm.
9.5mm drill, v.tight, needs filing out.
10mm drill, v.sloppy.
3/8mm (cheap forstner) tad sloppy.

Ideally I want a snug fit (rails to hang ribbon medals on - so they can be removed)
Suggestions please (no, I've not got a lathe).
I've 8 holes to make, so filing with a rat-tail would be a chore?
 
Sand down the dowel. Pop it in your drill and spin it while sanding until you get the fit you want. Obviously cut dowel oversize so you can trim off the damaged end from the chuck.
 
Sand down the dowel. Pop it in your drill and spin it while sanding until you get the fit you want. Obviously cut dowel oversize so you can trim off the damaged end from the chuck.
I'd sort of thought of that, but the dowel is 400mm long? Could cause problems :)
An option if I can control it... spin slowly etc. Perhaps hand sanding will suffice - easier than the rat-tail!
 
I don't know that I have sanded a dowel quite that long but I bet you could. Pop a piece of pipe in a vice and use that to steady the "wobbly" end as you sand.
 
You can actually sand quite long dowels using a drill and running the folded sandpaper up and down. The sandpaper hand is supporting the dowel. I used to do wood arrow shafts that way. They were a fair bit longer than 400mm.
Regards
John
 
Just buy a drill the size you think you need, they are commonly supplied in 0.1mm increments, so buy a 9.7 or whatever. A few quid versus a lot of hassle.

Excessive for a one off job though when you already have sandpaper. Plus what if the size you order still isn't right?
 
just sand the bits that need to fit the 9.5mm holes - unless you are passing it through or have intermediate supports of course.
 
Dowel rods in 8' lengths are best avoided. They are more oval than round. I'd invest in the fluted dowels made by Woodcraft and others and avoid all the hassle.
 
Dowel rods in 8' lengths are best avoided. They are more oval than round. I'd invest in the fluted dowels made by Woodcraft and others and avoid all the hassle.
I bought in 1m lengths and since these will be on display (medal holder) I don't want fluted dowels (as per joining).
Bought on ebay, oak, quite reasonably priced.
 
Do you have a piece of thinner, maybe 6mm dowel?
Split the end and fit a flap of sand paper and use that to ease the 9.5mm holes?
 
Excessive for a one off job though when you already have sandpaper. Plus what if the size you order still isn't right?
I was under the impression he had bought umpteen feet of the stuff, seems a bit of a faff to be reaching for the sandpaper every time you want to use jt. Out of interest 3/8 is 9.535mm, so maybe a more accurate 3/8 drill rather than the forstner might be the answer without having to buy a one off size.
 
I was under the impression he had bought umpteen feet of the stuff, seems a bit of a faff to be reaching for the sandpaper every time you want to use jt. Out of interest 3/8 is 9.535mm, so maybe a more accurate 3/8 drill rather than the forstner might be the answer without having to buy a one off size.

He said 8 holes so I assume 8 dowels. I wouldn't buy a drill bit and faff around for that number of holes when a minute or two with sandpaper per dowel would sort it, even Amazon ain't that fast ;)
 
I was under the impression he had bought umpteen feet of the stuff, seems a bit of a faff to be reaching for the sandpaper every time you want to use jt. Out of interest 3/8 is 9.535mm, so maybe a more accurate 3/8 drill rather than the forstner might be the answer without having to buy a one off size.
No, only enough for this job. Only 8 'ends' to process.
Yes. I tried a 3/8 Forstner, but it wasn't a clean hole. Waggling the 9.5mm did a similar job. For me, not worth a new drill?
 
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