Step drills or taper drills?

[Nige52]

Hi,
I want to splice 2 dowels together using a male on one piece, as in a pencil sharpener point and a female on the other, as in a cone shape. I know there is a tool for this but it's very expensive for what it does. I have a wood lathe so I would like to insert the dowel in the chuck, and in the tailstock insert a cone cutting drill. Looking on the net I see both types of cutter, step drills and taper drills, as I've never used either, I imagine the taper drill will cut a nice smooth cone shaped hole to match the male point, but what will the step drill cut, a hole with a series of ledges?
Thanks for any advice
Nige

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'd put a lot of money on it that it won't work no matter what you use.

 

[Nige52]

This is what I have in mind, as I say there's a machine that does it, but for repairing a few dowels it's far too expensive...

 

[nanscombe]

A tap and die?

How about using a drill / tap to make a hole in one and a die to cut a thread on the other then screw them together.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Scarf them. The glue line won't break.

 

[GLFaria]

A tap and die?

How about using a drill / tap to make a hole in one and a die to cut a thread on the other then screw them together.

I guess the male piece would probably become too weak and liable to break at the root of the thread, because of the step to the larger diameter.

 

[GLFaria]

Sorry for double post.

I don't know nearly enough about wood and woodworking, but thinking on how I might do it on metal - since you have a lathe, wouldn't it be possible to mount a bit on the tailstock, drill the end on one dowell, then turn the other dowell to fit? Not nearly as strong as the cone system, but I think this might just do (unless the dowel is to be subject to flexing, in which case I guess nothing will do)

 

[nanscombe]

If you're talking stepped drills how about gluing a Miller Dowel into the end of one piece? But would there be enough material to make it strong enough.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/miller-dowel

However, you might be able to use the drill to make a stepped hole in one piece and the lathe to turn an appropriate shape on the end of the other.

Or just cut a half lap joint on the end of each,

Sorry, just throwing some ideas out there.

 

[marcros]

i don't think that you are going to find much suitable- it seems to be a pretty unique tool.

How often do you break an arrow, and how much are they to replace? does it stack up over a years use? could you replace the shaft, or is that a lot of work to do that?

 

[Limey Lurker]

What about a plug cutter and matching drill?

 

[Hitch]

Cone drill.... and a home made XL pencil sharpener thing to suit the angle of your cone drill, like bodgers use for the ends of chair legs...no idea what the proper name for them is...


Step drills are really for sheet metal, the steps give an easy reference to the size of the hole being drilled.