Dowel is a wood that has been made into a cylinder shape, commonly used in woodworking.
In furniture making, for example, dowels are often used as connectors between pieces of wood. The most common dowel size is 1/4 inch in diameter.
If you need to drill a hole in a piece of wood and you don't have a dowel of the right size, you can always use a drill bit that is slightly smaller in diameter than the dowel you need. This will give you a snug fit when you insert the dowel into the hole.
First, determine the thickest dowel that will fit into the space that you have made. You can do this by taking a 1/2 inch dowel and putting it over the hole. Next, get a 1/4 inch drill bit (or even smaller) and put it through the 1/2 inch dowel covering the 1/2 inch dowel with tape on either side of where you are going to drill.
Drill out or make holes in both sides of the tape so that when you push up on one side of tape while pulling down on the other, the dowel slides thru leaving just enough room for your smaller drill bit. Now take the drill bit and try to slide it through the dowel. If it is too tight, use a larger drill bit till you get one that slides easily into the hole. This new dowel will be your 1/4 inch dowel.
You can use a doweling jig for drilling dowel holes; doweling jigs make getting your holes drilled much easier and more accurately through the guiding bushings.
Now that you know the size dowel to use, it is important to choose the right type of wood. Softwoods like pine tend to warp and twist over time. A hardwood like oak or cherry is a better choice for furniture projects. If you are not sure which type of wood to use, ask your local hardware store for help. They will be able to recommend the best type of wood for your project.
Various woods work fine. However, denser woods are actually better since they don't expand as much with the moisture in the wood glue. Also, hardwood denser types are better for furniture projects.
Wooden dowels for frame construction often have a small hole drilled down the middle to receive some sort of pin that pulls it tight against another piece of wood for strength. With this said, some people make their own dowels, and some use a dowel that has already been made.Australian woods typically used for wooden dowels include Rosewood, Blackbutt and Messmate.
If you're not sure, ask your local hardware store for advice. Generally, a dowel size of 3/8 inch or 1/2 inch is a good starting point. You can always go up or down in size depending on your needs and the thickness of the wood you are working on.
A general rule of thumb is to make the dowel rod about 2 inches longer than the finished project requires. This will give you some room for error when it comes to cutting and sanding it to the correct size.
There are a few ways to do this. One way is to use a handsaw or mitre saw. You will need to use a wood that's hard enough to cut through, but not too dense. Oak is a good choice for this. To make the dowel, first mark the desired length on the wood, then clamp the wood to your workbench. Make sure the blade of your saw is aligned with the mark and cut through the dowel. Be very careful when doing this as it's easy to lose control of the saw, and it's also easy to cut yourself.
One way is to use a belt sander. Another way is to use an orbital sander. You will need to use sandpaper that's coarse enough to remove the marks from the saw, but not so coarse that it takes off too much material. Start by sanding in one direction, then switch to the other direction. Do this until the dowel is the desired size and shape.
This will depend on what you're using the dowel for. If you're going to paint it, you might want to sand it down a bit more so that the paint will adhere better. If you're going to use a wood finish, you might want to apply a coat of sealer before finishing it with a wood stain or oil. Again, this will depend on the project you're working on. If you're not sure, ask your local hardware store for advice.
To create dowel joinery, start with two boards. Use at least 2 dowels in edge joints. The more dowels used, the stronger the dowel joints.
Mark the holes locations. Through the dowel jig, drill the hole till the drill stop.
Make sure of the alignment of holes in both boards.
Add a little glue to the dowel hole and insert the dowels on one board.
Install the second board and align it with the dowels. Tighten with a woodworking clamp.
Wooden dowels are used in various woodworking activities, a dowel joint can connect two boards that are perpendicular. Another type is wood dowel pins, which are fluted dowels that have grooves for better glue adhesion, which makes them a perfect fit for furniture joinery work. Some of the more common projects include:
Picture frames
Shelves
Birdhouses
Toys
Kitchen utensils
Yard games
Musical instruments
All sorts of other crafts and stuff
A dowel lock is a device that holds two pieces of wood together after gluing them. It's not uncommon for dowels to become loose after time due to the swelling and shrinking of the wood. If you're using some sort of dowel in your project, consider using one of these locks to help ensure that it stays in place.
Dowel locks work by inserting a small metal plate into the hole drilled in the middle of the dowel. This plate has a screw thread that goes through it, and when it's tightened down, it pulls the dowel tight against the other piece of wood.
Interested in a career in woodworking? JobOutlook has an outline of the training involved in using woodworking machines.