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Riven Hardwood Dowels with a Dowel Plate
A dowel split along the grain keeps every fibre running its full length, so it is stronger than one sawn across the grain. Split a straight log into sticks, dry them, rough them to eight sides and drive each through the holes of a steel dowel plate with a mallet: the sharp edge of each hole shaves the stick round.
Dry dowels matter: wood shrinks as it dries, and a dry dowel takes up moisture from the glue and swells tight.
Beginner
2 hours, plus drying
Instructions
1
1
Cut a billet
Cut a billet
Saw a 300 mm length from a straight, knot-free hardwood log such as oak, ash or hickory.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Logs1 pieceTools needed:
Crosscut Saw
Tape Measure2
2
Riving, step by step
Riving, step by step
How to split along the grain with a froe and mallet.
3
3
Rive the sticks
Rive the sticks
Split the billet in halves, then halves again with the froe and mallet, until each stick is about 5 mm wider than the dowel you want.
Tools needed:
Froe
Wooden Mallet4
4
Dry them
Dry them
Leave the sticks indoors, spaced apart, for several weeks. They are ready when the moisture meter reads 6–8 %, or a little drier than the wood they will go into.
Tools needed:
Pin-Type Wood Moisture Meter5
5
Rough to eight sides
Rough to eight sides
Plane or pare each stick square, then take the corners off to eight sides, about 1 mm larger than the dowel. Chamfer one end to a blunt point.
Tools needed:
Block Plane
Chisel Set - Wood6
6
Drive through the plate
Drive through the plate
Clamp the dowel plate in the vise over a gap so the dowel can drop through. Start the chamfered end in the hole one size larger than you want and drive it through with the mallet; then the final hole.
Tools needed:
Dowel Plate
Bench ViseWooden Mallet
Safety Glasses7
7
Check and cut
Check and cut
Measure the dowel with the caliper along its length. Saw to length and chamfer both ends.
Tools needed:
Digital Caliper 6-InchCrosscut Saw8
8
Keep them dry
Keep them dry
Store the dowels in a jar with a lid until you use them, so they stay dry.
Tools needed:
Glass Jars with Lids9
9
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Dowel plate troubleshooting.
Flow
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Materials
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Tools Required
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