Looking for dowels

[CharlieZardoz]

Hi everyone! So realizing that crowntimbreyard is mia and woodprojectsource doesn't seem to carry them is there a site I can use to get milled dowel's that are cherry and boxwood?

[mtaylor]

Charlie, I suspect you may have to make your own though I vaguely recall seeing some somewhere but darned if I remember.  I do some digging through my links to wood sites....

 

Edit

Hang on.... Google is our friend...  "walnut" and "dowels" keywords...  and "boxwood" and "dowels" returns hits... Rockler, Woodcraft... and more!!!   I admit, I was surprised.

Edited November 28, 2017 by mtaylor

[Richard Griffith]

Mike is right, make your own.  It is easy.  The following is for smaller dowels, generally 1/4" and smaller.

First make a draw plate by drilling a series of holes in a 1/8" piece of flat steel down to the size you need.  Use all of  you drill bits sizes.  After drilling all your holes, rub the steel with a wet stone (with or without oil) so the edges of the holes are sharp.  No need for tempering or hardening the steel.  

Next saw your wood to a square slightly larger than the needed diameter (measured flat to flat).  The larger holes will knock off the corners (or you can plane off the corners).

Sharpen the end of the wood so it fits through the holes.

Pull the wood with pliers through all the holes until your required diameter.  You will need to use all the holes due to the pressures involved and the fragile nature of wood.                   Duff