How do you make your own dowels?

29th February 2020


	How to make your own dowels


	Shop for Dowels


			It’s possible to make your own dowels out of long, thin strips of wood. You might find that this is necessary if you run out of dowels, or you may decide that this is the best use for leftover wood from a completed woodworking project.

			What do you need?
			You will need a power drill, a utility knife, a sturdy steel plate and the strips of wood you’re going to be turning into dowels (referred to as ‘stock’).



			Creating dowels
			Step 1 – Create cutting tool Choosing a drill bit that is the same size as the dowel rod you want to make, drill a hole into a piece of steel. This will act as your cutting tool.

			It’s also possible to buy dowel plates, which are sheets of metal pre-drilled with holes in common dowel sizes. If you have one of these, it can be used wherever the cutting tool is referenced below.

			Step 2 – Whittle wooden stock Using your utility knife, whittle one end of your wooden stock so that it is narrow enough to fit through the hole you just drilled in the cutting tool.

			You don’t need to make a sharp point, unless you’re planning on hunting vampires!

			Step 3 – Fix wooden stock Remove the drill bit from your power drill and secure a piece of your wooden stock in its place. Activating the drill should cause the wood to spin.

			Step 4 – Put wood in hole Put the whittled end of your wood stock into the cutting tool, then activate the power drill and push it all the way through. This will cut off the corners of the wood and create a round dowel rod.



			You can also use a hammer to knock a strip of wood through a dowel plate to turn it into a dowel rod. Who says you can’t put a square peg into a round hole?