A Complete guide for making Dowels and Dowel Making Jig

Handmade Doweling Jig & Dowels

A dowel making jig is a tool or device designed to assist in the creation of dowels, which are cylindrical wooden rods or bars used for various woodworking applications, such as joining pieces of wood together. The purpose of dowel making jig is to facilitate the accurate and consistent production of dowels with precise dimension and smooth surfaces. 

What exactly is a Dowel Making Jig? 

A Dowel making jig is a tool used in woodworking, carpentry to create various sized thickness and length dowels. A dowel making jig helps woodworkers produce dowels of many diameters from a large piece of wood.

What exactly is a Dowel?

Dowels are cylindrical rods often used for joining two pieces of wood together, providing structural support, alignment and sometimes to decorate elements.

Here is a guide to make your own dowel making jig and dowels.

Materials required - 

Metal Bar - (L*W*T) - 8"*1.5"*8 mm)

Pine wood block

Tools & Machines required - 

Twist drill bits - https://amzn.to/45hUr4x

Center Punch - https://amzn.to/3u6PAGq

Hammer - https://amzn.to/3ZNUyDL

Cutting Oil - https://amzn.to/48BxufA

Oil Can - https://amzn.to/46wGeSu

4" or 5" Metal Cutting Blade - https://amzn.to/3MsXlgm, https://amzn.to/461L8X5

4" or 5" Metal Grinding Blade - https://amzn.to/3MsXlgm

4" or 5" Flap Discs - https://amzn.to/47kyzqC

Marker - https://amzn.to/3QrWfnw

Vice - https://amzn.to/3LRdw6Y

Knife - https://amzn.to/45XRkPO

Sandpaper 60 Grit - https://amzn.to/40aiFNf

Drill Machine - https://amzn.to/3rfJGSF

Angle Grinder - https://amzn.to/48jzusJ

Table Saw - https://amzn.to/3LzPCwp

Drill Press - https://amzn.to/3F9ZYzM

Bench Grinder (Optional) - https://amzn.to/3rtp3m0

Miter Saw (Optional) - https://amzn.to/3Rw04J9

Let' us make it (Dowel Making Jig) - 

Creating dowels using a homemade dowel-making jig can be a cost-effective and practical way to produce dowels for your woodworking projects. 

You will require a metal bar sized (L*W*T) - 8"*1.5"*8 mm). 

Cut 1.5" wide and 8 mm thick metal bar at the length of 8" using angle grinder.

Now because the bar is 1.5" in width, mark a center line across width of the metal bar in the middle (0.75") using marker. Mark 5 punches using center punch, distance should be 1.5" between every punch mark.

Drill holes 5 holes in 5 punch marks. Because the metal bar is 8 mm thick, so it is necessary to drill holes using drill press or drill guide. Holes should be straight because if holes are not straight then we can not make straight dowels. 

We will need 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm twist drill bits and make respective size holes so that we can make respective size dowels. We will start drilling in the bar from ascending order.

After drilling all 5 holes, we need to make 3 ditches around all 5 holes. First mark 15 mark hitting center punch (3 punches around each 5 holes = 15 Punches). Then make slight ditches using 10 mm twist drill bit. 

These 3 ditches will work as sharp blade which will help shaping a square bar into round dowel by spinning it from the holes. Now our handmade dowel making jig is complete. You can also write or carve the sizes of holes in numbers, you can use a carving tool or simple use a marker to write down the sizes. It will help identifying you that which hole will make what sized hole.

Let' us make it (Various Sized Dowels) - 

Cut a lot of thin pinewood or hardwood strips using table saw. I Cut a lot of 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm pinewood strips.

Now all the strips are cut down, arrange all the strips by its size like - 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 13 mm. Peel corners of the strips from both end using a sharp knife, because it will be easy to tighten strips' one end in the drill machine and second end in the dowel making jig's hole. 

You will only need to peel both ends of pinewood strips of 12 mm and 13 mm because below 12 mm strips will easily be tighten in 13 mm drill machine and also can be narrow down by putting them in larger dowel holes.

Tighten your dowel making jig into the vice. After peeling both ends of thicker dowels tighten them into drill machine. 

Slowly rotate strip by pressing drill machine button and pass through the strip into the dowel making jig's hole. 

Repeat the process. Sand dowels using 60 grit sandpaper by wrapping the dowel and rotating the dowel by drill machine.

Make dowels of all sizes from the strip that we cut on table saw by rotating them into their respective hole in handmade dowel making jig.

Now cut rough ends of the dowels on miter saw or table saw or you can use hand saw. It will add finishing touches to handmade dowels.

  

For better understanding this wood working project watch video on out YouTube channel. You can check more interesting projects there.