Woodpeckers strike again

[Eric The Viking]

After the thread about a truly, outrageously daft marking gauge, I saw this on YT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQYR4C-Ndy0

Truly staggering (and the comments are entertaining). There should be a separate Darwin Award category for tool companies.

The most charitable thing you could say about it is that they have actually made it work. The most practical thing might be to just buy the dies, cut a suitable hole in a steel plate let into the bench, and use a hammer, old-style (assuming the dies really do work better than a traditional dowel plate on its own).

People would die of either old age or bankruptcy using that thing. But I bet they still sell a few...

E.

 

[Tasky]

Four Hunnerd Bucks???!!!
I'm almost tempted to rig one of these up myself...!!

 

[AndyT]

I thought this was going to be some more of your nice nature photography - I'm VERY disappointed!! :evil: :lol: :evil:

 

[transatlantic]

More ridiculous than this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3d2zj2kbrM&t=7s

seems like woodworkers have far too money to spend.

 

[D_W]

"exposed dowel joinery".

ew.

 

[nabs]

apparently Stanley made similar for about 60 years so someone must have liked them!

https://archive.org/details/StanleyDowelingMachineNo77

 

[AndyT]

apparently Stanley made similar for about 60 years so someone must have liked them!

https://archive.org/details/StanleyDowelingMachineNo77

Yebbut they actually work - or at least, Roy Underhill's does - too expensive for me to buy one. The Stanley machine cuts shavings, it doesn't just split the outside off. So you can start from a square, sawn blank.
The woodpecker effort needs a carefully sized blank, probably a round one, like a dowel plate, unless you have very well behaved wood.

The modern equivalent is from Veritas and can be used with an electric drill.

 

[NazNomad]

Crikey... Whatever happened to pounding it through a dowel plate with a large hammer?

 

[custard]

The old boys might argue that their riven pegs were inherently stronger as there's zero short grain, where as taking an overly manufactured approach invites short grain into the picture.

Hey, whatever gets you through the night, I don't see much furniture collapsing due to peg failure.

 

[Andy Kev.]

It does look like using it could be very relaxing and therapeutic, though. But then the knowledge of how much you'd paid for it might act against that. If they put it out for about 50 quid it would probably be a seller.

 

[richarddownunder]

Personally, I wouldnt buy it unless it can also untrank concrete hex finials and retrank floating lug grout. It's also not startlingly loud which is a let down, even though it does have an aircraft aluminum handle. I thought I'd seen it in this catalogue (which has probably done the rounds before but seems approapriate to ressurect) somewhere...

 

[bugbear]

The old boys might argue that their riven pegs were inherently stronger as there's zero short grain, where as taking an overly manufactured approach invites short grain into the picture.

Hey, whatever gets you through the night, I don't see much furniture collapsing due to peg failure.

I wonder (must test) to what extent a dowel plate (which is what this is, ultimately) follows the grain. The cutting action is pretty poor, and the linear guidance from the pusher minimal.

I've certainly seen advice in old books that the prepared blanks for a dowel plate must be straight grained, or they'll simply break when hammered through.

BugBear