What is a Dowel Plate and How to Make Dowels | Dowel Maker by DFM
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What is it! a Dowel Maker by DFM Toolworks. this is a dowel plate designed to quickly make dowels for general woodworking. it is designed for hardwood but you can use it to make softwood dowels too. this is a dowel plate a type of dowel making jig that is almost as old as dirt.
You can buy the DFM Dowel Plate here: amzn.to/2H2IaJD
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That's a great tool for making dowels. I have used a drawplate to change the diameter and shape of Silver wire. A drawplate is similar to your dowel plate. However hammering the wire doesn't work; you have to pull the wire through.
I am making a farmhouse table for (with) my wife. This dowel maker was delivered today and I plan to use it with some walnut that I got from a friend's land. I will use the dowels as contrast on the breadboard ends of the red oak that will be the table top.
Good video James,
While you mentioned dowel length for the smaller dia.
It may also be worth mentioning that IF, all you need is a short dowel pin it is easier and sometimes better to split or rive short billets from end cut off scrap to ensure you have straight grain.
They are also easier to pound through since the is no loss of force in bending or vibrating longer dowels.
For long thin dowels you can get them started and pull them through.
It is easier to pull a rope than push it.
Thanks for sharing.
Metric available! DFM makes a metric version of their dowel plate. That may be important to some of us who live outside the US.
Please make the dowel plate. Love watching your videos
I think I'm going to have to now.
@@WoodByWright Looks like you got what you asked for.
I have an old dowel plate, previous owner modified one of the holes to make fluted dowels. Very handy.
Sold! Ordering mine at amazon right now. Thank you.
I used a 3" wide piece of 3/8" tool steel and drilled 2 rows of holes on my drill press. Built a mostly solid base of walnut and Maple to mount it on. Very nice to have on those projects where you need an odd size or wood for the dowel to match the project. These are great for registration, pinned joinery (I made a table with 1/2" dowels driven in that locked the tenons in place) and loads of other uses.
Just picked one of these up. Love the quality and ease of use of this thing.
Nice. They are a lot of fun.
Thanks for teaching me something new James. I buy my dowels but now, there are so many new opportunities! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience on this! Scott
Thanks man my pleasure. It's always fun when you can make your own dowels to fit your own choices.
I would just love to watch a HANDTOOL craftsman drill holes through an old file. So please, make the plate. :D
It will be fun. I think I'll have to make the video now.
@@WoodByWright absolutely! Would be such a fun video
@@WoodByWright Using the drill press counts as cheating. Use braces. Haha.
I seem to recall a hand crank post drill in another video. That would do nicely.
I have been making Dowels for 40 plus years and ln my experience riven wood is always more preferable to make dowels than sawn wood - nice vid.
So true. That is the best way to garentee strait grain!
Thanks James. Cool instructional video. Very helpful.
Thanks man My pleasure.
Made my own years ago and I found that chucking up the dowel blank in a drill and spinning it through is much easier and less prone to tear out.
I was just wondering about this
I’m excited! I will try this someday! Thank you!
Thanks. Have fun
I've been looking to pick one of these up. Thanks for demonstrating it!
Thanks. My pleasure!
This is a very good little tool. I'd not seen it before and so guess what I'll be purchasing soon. Thanks for the information. Best wishes
Thanks Mark. glad I could help!
Very helpful, thank you. I am making a 30" ebony ramrod for a flintlock rifle, and I was trying to figure out the best way to do it
good video, can't believe it's that simple!
Nice! I’m real enthused about this. Thanks for making this one. Good price for a quality looking product too. Cheers!
Thanks Kevin. Love his work.
Great video. I'm a tool junkie, so I just now followed the link an bought one.
Sweet! shave fun. It is addictive to pound things through it!
I just bought one, excited to put it to use.
Nice! have fun man!
I had no idea it was that simple to make a dowel, thanks for the video
And a lot of fun. Good to get some frustration out on it.
Thanx for vid clip, will be searching out for one of those pretty soon.
my pleasure they are fun!
nice product
I love DFM's stuff!
Brilliant video. Thanks!
thanks!
Thank for the review! Very helpful!
Thanks, well explained
my pleasure! glad i could help!
Thanks for the info James! 😃👍🏻👊🏻
Thanks Fred
i do love DIY solutions. i never saw a dowel plate around here. and i imagine you can make a plate to fit the size of your drills (if have some od sizes for example)
Truth. You can make it anything you want
Previous to watching your video and conceiving how to make a dowel, I was imagining a dowel plate as having bladed lips circumventing the holes. The flared opening makes sense, but I wish I had access to make my own tools
I have a great idea that I'll be doing with one of these on my bench;
Making it integral to my benchtop.
Great video as always, James. Very informative. I could see making dowels as a way to channel aggression. Therapy, the Wood by Wright way.
I thought about doing that too. it would be a good addition if you make a lot of dowels. LOL I like the way you think!
I was thinking bench mounted as well. Possibly in the apron so it is out of the way for other work? And so there is no chance of other tools/work rubbing and dulling the plate.
Arrow shafts too!! THANKS FOR THAT!
Lol yup!
Liked your video... purchased the tool. Thanks. Art, Maine
thanks man. I love mine! and the new ones are even better now.
Thanks for sharing that
thanks man! my pleasure!
Yes, making dowels is fun. I've been using a dowel plate to make my own for years. I did make a solid box and drilled tubes for each size but that ended up not working out. If a dowel went off center, it was a chore getting it out of the drilled tube. I ended up chiseling out the tubes and simply use the open bottom over a dog hole in the bench.
Nice. I think a lot of people do that.
Pretty cool
and fun!
Great timing again...end of day for me in Normandy...rr
thanks man! great job on another first!
Thanks for the walkthrough. I'll definitely check out that dowel plate. I usually use a rounder / rounding plane to make dowels. I'm curious to try a dowel plate, though. And I would love to see how you make a dowel plate from an old file.
Thanks! apparently people want to see the shop made dowel plate.
@@WoodByWright with shop made, the dowel is perfectly sized to your drill bit. If you can remember which 3/8 drill you used to make the plate (example).
Many years ago I made my own using a scrap piece of steel ship and car channel, never needed to sharpen it, still have it too. In una emergencia, I have been known to drill the needed size hole through just about any steel laying about (once even in a tablesaw arbor wrench) if say I just needed a few, trick is to make a clean entry hole and deburr or chamfer the outlet side. ☺
Right on. It does not take much at all
Please make the dowel plate.
Love your videos!
Should be coming tomorrow.
I heard you talk about this on the podcast this morning. That looks like a great dowel plate. One is now sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for a time when I have the cash to buy it or I’m in one of those “must have this tool” situations. I was actually hoping it would go up to 3/4 because I need some white oak dowels to make bench dogs for the workbench I’m making.
Nice. That would be a big dowel. Most of the time for that size you would use a spokeshave and clean it down to size.
Subbed
Another vote for the DIY dowel plate!
Hopefully tomorrow.
Once in the future you definitely have to make a video about how to sharpen this :)
Maybe I will but it would be a short video. you just set it face down on a stone and rube it back and forth for a bit.
With the back side of the holes tapered out, wouldn't subsequent honings eventually make the dowels too large?
I too would like to see you make a dowel plate from a file. Really good demo too.
Sounds good.
I wonder if you could rough out the stock on a v-shaped holding fixture with a jack plane to save wear & tear on the dowel plate...
Arrgg! Where was this last month? I have been going back and forth between LN and Lee Valley for quite a long time trying to decide between the two for a dowel plate. Finally broke down and bought the LN one about two weeks ago. Would have bought this one instead for the extra sizes, as they are basically the same price. Timing is everything. Glad to see this one has the tapered holes like the LN one. Makes getting the dowel out a lot easier. It is nice to have perfectly sized dowels instead of the (mostly) crap that the stores have. Last year I had made a wooden block about 1 inch thick with perfectly sized holes that I carried with me into the stores so I could go thru the available dowels to try and find the best one. Amazing how many of them were as much as 1/32" too big, too small, or had flats on them.
ya he just started selling these. so much fun to play with !
Don't get me wrong. I like the LN one. It works great. I'm just having some fun with your video. LOL.
Love to see you make a dowel cutter from a file
Hopefully on Saturday.
you should make a vid about making a dowl plate bij your self
I think I will have to!
I made mine from an old table saw blade, works great. I discovered a problem, one that is shared by the plate you demoed, without an outfeed of the same diameter, the dowel tends to wander yielding a nine straight dowel. When making short dowels, no problem, but for long ones, say for toy excels, not so good. I added a piece of wood to the back and Drilles holes to match, now the newly cut dowel tracks perfectly straight. The back cut in the demo plate will allow the same wandering. Also, if you sharpen the plate, presumably from the top, the diameter will increase slightly with each sharpening. To your point that should take a very very long time.
yup. that is why a lot of people make a box for it, but I have never had a problem with wondering on my other plates, that being said I rarely use long dowels.
If you need a dowel a mile long use a rounder dowel cutter built similar to a pencil sharpener but in general short dowels are all that's needed. Try using a General 18 ga. thick tempered steel Fractional Size Drill Gage for making dowels. Hole sizes are from 1/16" to 1/2" in 1/64 increments. The holes are stamped thru which leaves a smooth rounded edge around each hole on the face but a sharp edge good for cutting on the back so flip the thing over face side down for use (BTW the sizes are etched on the face). Open the jaws of a vice, or something similar, to support the gage just a bit wider than the largest hole needed. Can't ask for anything more simple and probably can get one each in imperial and metric sizes at a fraction of the cost.
You could mount it in your bench or bench apron as well.
I have thought about that. If I used it more I probably would.
I would love to see you make a dowel plate.
hopefully it will be out tomorrow.
Awesome job! I would’ve liked a little more information perhaps detailed information on how to sharpen the dowel plate. My guess, if you would use your sharpening stones to sharpen the top of the dowel plate, is this correct?
Yep. Generally you would only need to sharpen it once every few years or pretty heavy use. But generally you would put it face down on a diamond plate or other sharpening plate and rub it around.
Gunna go make a dowel movement.
LOL sounds like fun!
Thanks for the video. I was laying out mine today before watching the video.
BTW. Does it make sense to use the same wood for dowels as for the rest of a work? If they are hidden, it doesn't seem to matter. If they are visible and you want them look the same as the rest, using a dowel plate doesn't seem a good option, because the dowels you make end up with their end grain sticking out. (Using a special dowel cutting drill bits to cut cross-grain dowels seems better.) Of course using dowel plate with a completely different wood makes perfect sense. Do I get something wrong?
yup it is a personal preference. if you make one across the grain it is not a dowel it is a plug. dowels are designed for shear straight and cross grain cutting would have no shear straight at all. though they are great for covering up screw heads if you use them in joinery.
That is a sweet dowel maker plate, James. Thank you for the tutorial. I am not very file savvy. How does one tell if it is no longer useful? Would a rasp work as well?
When a file no longer cuts well and takes much more time than it used to, or you can physically see grunting, rolled over edges, the it is to far gone. (Unless you have the tools to sharpen/reset a file)[buying a new file is much cheaper] and yes, a ground flat rasp will work as well as a file. He has done a follow-up video where he makes a dowel cutter.
. A rasp or a file would work fine. It's more to do with decent steel. Usually they start to doll out and they do not work as fast as they should. I just put out the video making one for a file if you want to see that.
@@WoodByWright Thank you both, gentlemen, for your responses. I thought I was going to have to wait a week or so for the new video! Going there now.
Excellent video James! Do the dowels turn out to be 100% accurate or close enough to use in making hidden "wood dowel " hinges for boxes?
There is accurate as you can get with wood.
This leaves a dowel taste in my mouth... "Dowel maker", by J.ez W.epplin. From the album, "Houses of the Woodworking"...
LOL nice!
I tried making oak dowels (actually reducing a 12mm shop bought dowel down to 3/8ths). My method was to buy a cheap (sub £5) SS drill gauge and hack saw the edges of the holes in a few spots to create a cutting edge then drill the dowel through with my battery drill. Worked really well. I found that hammering through could be a bit hazardous so safety glasses are not a bad idea with oak especially.
that is a really common way. I have even done it with a brace, but it takes longer LOL
@@WoodByWright Well I know that you using anything electric would the same effect as splashing water on a Gremlin! Great channel btw.
I would put the stick into a drill as it would go through easier than hammering it like that
For longer skinny dowels can't you chuck them INA drill and spin them while pushing them through
You could, but why would you need one?
I would love to see a dowel plate made out of a file! I am hopeful it can be done without a drill press, as I do not own one.
thanks. I am planning on doing it for Saturday now.
James I really like your videos and respect your views based on which I got this plate from Amazon . However driving the wood peg through these holes is not easy and quite tedious and the output was not good either. No smooth edges etc. Also can’t figure out how it can be ever sharpened. Anyways will get at it again cheers
interesting. are you using riven wood or cut wood. to sharpen it you put it face down on the sharpening plate and rub. for most people that is something that happens every 5+ years so it is not a common thing that needs to happen. send me an email I would love to see what is happening.
Hi, I use a die from a tap set and an electric drill to make my dowels, it is quick and easy to make them.
interesting so your dowels have threads?
@@WoodByWright, Yes but as I use dowels to glue in joints the threads help let any surplus glue escape
If you have to put the sq wood through three times working the way to your size then how do you do the largest one which you said was 5/8? Thank you
I've never had to make one larger than a half inch but if you needed to make a larger one than that you would carve it down close to size and then drive it through that hole.
Could you make a dowel plate from mild steel, or does it have to be hardened steel?
Sure. You can make it from just about any metal you want as long as it won't deform from the impact. The nice thing about good hard and steel is that it will stay sharp longer and it doesn't deform as much as long as it has been tempered well
"Somethign Funney Should Be Here" :O
the good old stand by when I forget to change the slide LOL
Hi a question ! Does this make dowels from hardwoods OK, or are we best sticking to softwoods ?
it works well with any woods. I was using white oak here I have done it with Maple, and purple heart and a lot of harder woods too. whatever wood you would like.
@@WoodByWright Thanks so much for that confirmation ! Obviously a very versatile tool on all accounts ! Excellent ! Many thanks !
if you use softwood you may have to finish off with a piece of hardwood to clean off the entry edge of the dowel plate - it can get encrusted with sap and other crud and lessen the plates ability to cut.
@@sawdustwoodchips Thanks for that advice!
I've made a dowel plate using a piece of angle iron and it works pretty well. To buy them, they ain't cheap, I could get one for about £50. I don't know what that is in US dollars but I'll bet it's a lot. I do have a question for you. Have you ever used Veritas Chair Doctor glue, and if you have, what do you think of it? Cheers,
that is about $65 home made ones work perfectly. and it is always fun to make your own. I have used Veritas Chair Doctor glue it is a watery PVA not the strongest glue on the market but works well for joints that have not come apart but need something injected.
Would it work to use a drill to spin the wood through the dowel plate?
Yup that works if you can chuck it up. But you always have to pound out the last bit.
pls make dowel file , love to see you do it 🔨
Thanks man I think I'll have to.
@@WoodByWright appreciated 😄
Same type tool is used for drawing wire. Annealed small gauge wire can be pulled through successively smaller holes to desired size. The wire will work harden with successive pulls and perhaps need to be annealed again after several sizes drawn.
I would think this technique would burnish the woods surface fibers. How would that affect glue absorption?
There is a slate difference between a wire pull and this. The wire pull will actually squeeze the wire down to a smaller shape. The holes are tapered in the other direction. This will actually cut off the excess. It actually does not burnish the side at all because it's only the correct dimension right at the top after that it tapers out so that it's not actually rubbing the side. So no problems with glue absorption.
Thanks for the info and reply. I’ll give this technique a try. I pull wire frequently for jewelry making (it stretches to meet the hole restriction, no sqeeze) but had not thought of this for my woodcrafting.
Does the plate hold up for a long time without hardening it? Maybe it would last longer if you did harden it?
it is hardened and tempered. if it was hardened all the way it would shatter from the impact. but this will hold up for years with out sharpening.
I'd be interested in seeing the file turned into a dowel maker
I just put out that video today. hope you like it!
Instead of hammering, what will it do if you insert one end of the dowel in a power drill and drill it into the hole?
Yep. That works well just is not very fast with a brace. The finished product looks about the same though.
QUESTION,i have some 6 ft tall round poles i need to taper on one end and i dont have a table saw so how can i cheaply and quickly taper these 1 1/4 inch diameter pole ends ??? do you have a video on this ?
I would use a spoke shave and or drawknife. If I am thinking what you are talking about. I don't have a video on that specifically. But I did make a pool cut out of a 1.5x1.5 stock stick once. Much the same way.
@@WoodByWright WWell i dont know what a spoke shave is but i do have two draw knives so i will give that a try and i am glad i bought those as i knew i was going to need them for something.
It would be awesome if you could do a video on this subject and show atleast 3 ways to do this as i bet you would be the only video on youtube to ever do one on the topic as ive hunted with no results.
Send me some pictures of what you are making. Are you tapering the whole thing or just one end.
@@WoodByWright Tapering just one end about 3 inches of it.Think of a rake handle how its tapered to allow the metal rake to fit onto the wood although they dont make a rake handle tall enough or i would just buy that.
Oh ya then in that case just a spoke shave and maybe a file to smooth it.
Just went to the link you provided and Amazon say they don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
Yup. Apparently I sent too many people there and they are sold out. He is making more and they should be back up in a week or so.
Think the quality of a file would matter for making one? Or do you think a harbor freight file would work fine. I imagine a nicer file would last longer
No. For something like this you don't need extremely hard metal the more important thing is the thickness. It should be at least Nathan's thick if not a little more.
‘Nathan’s thick?
Is there a reason to hammer vs drill the wood through the plate?
No. People like me both ways.
@@WoodByWright 🤪
Wow. Just realized that voice to text came out all wrong. It should say different people like to do it different ways. Personally I do it with a mallet because I try to show things without power tools. As this is a hand tool channel. And for most small dowels it's easier to pound it through but if you're doing anything longer than 5 or 6 in a drill makes it very easy.
Is it more benefecial to use green wood or seasoned wood for making dowels?
That depends on what you are doing with them. If you put greenwood through there they will shrink afterwards as the moisture leaves the wood. But greenwood is always easier to work with. so for most projects if I'm making a PIN to go into furniture I'm going to work with seasoned wood
@@WoodByWright Homemade greenwood furninture from Drake Elm and Live Oak limbs.
Mande um desse para mim
Which wood is strong enough to make Dowel
most any wood. the strength of the wood is not important. it is how strait the grain is.
I guess I need to drill a hole in my bench. I get jagged POS dowels from this plate.
I've got a newer video showing how to make a dowel plate box.
Please make the dowelplate.
Evryone can buy one, but some can build one :)
Greetz Danny ftom holland
I think I'm going to have to now.
how does it work for wood arrows
I have never made an arrow but if the wood is riven then it should work well. I've done several that are over 36 in.
I wanna buy that how much is that were i can buy that
here you go. dfmtoolworks.com/products/a2-steel-dowel-plate
Super awesome, $60 for the plate? Please make the vicheo!!!
it should be coming out Saturday. To be honest $60 a plate is one of the cheaper ones on the market.
Fine dining at it's best! A hearty serving of wood, I mean fibre! LOL.
could make chair spindles
sure. just need a bigger hole!
One vote for the file dowel plate
Thanks. I actually just put out that video yesterday if you want to go see it
Homemade dowel plate plz
Hopefully it will be out Saturday. thanks!
do both videos! also, show a piece of ebony getting slammed through there. I imagine that would dull it fast though, no sense in ruining tools, those things make money
It won't dull it that much faster. But I might have to.
Is it in metrik avaible to
I don't think he has that yet but He may be offering them soon.
How to put square pegs into round holes
more force!
My shop made one looks a lot more like tank armor plate than dinner plate :-) I have a three step process: rive, spokeshave, put through dowel plate. And, you can make really long dowels by pulling them through the plate rather than pounding them in. Depending on your age, strength and flexibility, though, you may find yourself in ridiculous positions on the shop floor while doing so... Clyde
I have never thought of pulling them. Sounds like a fun video!
Yes, please make the dowel plate from a file video.
Okay we'll see if I can make it for Saturday.
great use of tiny scraps... make dowels
so true. and fun!
Please make the Dowel plate 🤔
Just put out that video. Enough people asked!