Either sand or get a new 1/2" bit.

 

try a half inch drill lip and spur is good and see if that helps.You need to make the hole bigger the dowel can't be made smaller realistically easily so keep trying with a standard drill. Actually I never heard of anyone using a forstner for dowels although it' should work fine what made you go down that route in the first place

 

Waid,
What did you do to get the walnut 'bar' centered on the middle of the back dowels? Did you get those together? Or are you just trying to get the dowel ends into one of the pieces first?

I would probably try sanding, but even then, there's no room for expansion when you finally get them in the mortises.

Have you tried taking a sharp chisel to the ends? I'm not saying that's the best way to go, but I've done it in the past. Yeah, it looked messy, but I got them in the mortises.

Again, though, think about the bar you have to slip over half of the dowels in the back…

-Rick

 

It's usually better to have them a little on the tight side, especially if you're only driving them in 1/2". Could be your dowels and not your bit. Most of the dowels you buy are imports and they are closer to a metric size than standard.

 

Scotsman: I a complete uneducated and inexperienced newcomer. So I just try the first thing that comes to mind. I needed flat bottom 1/2" holes and grabbed a forstner bit. If there is a better way I'd love to learn.

Rick: I'm good with that bar in the back. I took a piece of 1/4" dowel and wrapped it in sandpaper and chucked it up in my drill press. Since that back piece has holes all the way through I just slipped it on on the little dowel and sanded the inside of the wholes.

So is this the result of a cheap forstner set?

 

Waid, I'm facing the exact same situation myself (3/8" though). Was going to address it this evening and try to come up with a solution. Your's is a great idea!! Thank you!!

BTW, I did put a caliper to the dowels and found that three coats of poly was just enough to make them too big for a comfortable fit.

 

Hey spaids
Your problem could be that your dowels have been storied were it's moist and have swelled a little bit so if you put them in a micro for a short time that might help and or your forstner bit is under size. I think you could have chucked your dowel in your drill press and sanded them as well. Good thinking on your aproach.

 

I don't know when you were working on that project but with St. Louis weather (Rain every three or four days) maybe your dowels swelled from the humidity. Do you keep them in a dry place?

 

Hey man I'm just down the road from you (O'Fallon) and I was working on this project this weekend and you know it was raining the whole time. Hmmmmm…

 

They should be snug, but if they really don't fit, either your dowel is too big (moisture or poor manufacturing), or your hole is too small.

There is no need for a flat-bottomed hole since the dowels are not going all the way to the bottom anyway. A standard twist drill or brad-point bit will be easier to work witj, and a little wiggle when drilling will give you a bit bigger hole to accept the dowel.

 

I have bought several dowels from the same store at the same time and most of them were all different sizes, not by much but enough to want to turn some of them into kindling. ...also, if you heavily flute the dowels that too will add in their instalation and getting past that piston thing.

 

I some times crimp the dowels with a pliers to shrink them.

They will swell back to normal when glued.

This is the way they make biscuits for joining with a biscuit joiner.

 

You might also try sawing/filing/chiseling some grooves in the dowel (if they don't already have grooves) because if they are air tight, and there is nowhere for the air/glue to go…

 

Hi Spaids, Drill a hole in a piece of steel the same as the drilled hole and run you dowels through it. I use my vintage WWII drill gage which has all the sizes I need…

 

Randy,

What solution are you referring to? I've come up with nothing yet. That sandpaper wrapped down thing is only good for the through cuts and I think I got that idea from Rick.

There are some very good ideas on this thread. I think if I'm not able to crimp the ends I'll try cutting the thinnest kerf I can in the end.

Should the kerf go with the grain or against it? I'm guessing the dowel could split over time if I do this wrong.

 

I do what Dick and Barb said. Gives more glue surface too.
I usually touch up dowels before using. Soft wood dowels will swell. But I'm in the moist NW.

 

Great idea Dick!

I never thought of that.

I don't hardly ever use dowels, but I will remember that.

 

Hi Spaids…

I had a problem with oversized dowels when making one of my rojects. Since the dowels were oversized they didn't thread properly. I found this item at the Japan Woodwoker. You might look into using one of these dowel rounding planes or make your own dowels with a router or molding head.

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?s=JapanWoodworker&pf_id=99.017.04&dept_id=13621

 

I agree with Jim. Put the dowels in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds to get some of the swelling down.

 

Yeah, I have a Toast-R-Oven™ in the shop for biscuits and Dominos, but I'm betting tossing the dowel in an oven at 160-180F for a few minutes would probably solve your issue quickly and easily.

 

Hmmm I will be cooking up some Dowel casserole very soon.

 

Don't fit em in too tight or they could split your wood later whent he humidity shifts.

damhikt.
Biscuits can pucker the surface of your work too so a sloppy fit is better there too.

Bob

 

Waid,

I tried wrapping sandpaper around a dowel last night, using double-stick tape on a 1/4 dowel to help open a 3/8" through hole. On Oak, it was not worth the effort on 20 pieces. I resigned to re-drill my current 3/8" through hole with a 7/16 bit, but left about 1/16 of the hole at 3/8. In other words, I didn't drill the entire hole with the 7/16 bit.

I found that I get a tight fit with the 1/16 to hold it in place, and the extra 1/16 on the rest of the hole gave me some glue area.

For the Fortsner "non-though" hole, I didn't have a 7/16 bit, so I made it at 3/8 and will sand down the dowel for a snug fit, then glue. Since my depth is only 5/8" deep, this will not be a lot of work.

 

Randy

When I wrapped the dowel I used spray glue on both the dowel and the back of the strip of sandpaper. It worked well for what I was doing but it was tedious and time consuming. I only did it on 5 holes though.

Is that a Frisbee golf trophy? .... Nice!

 

Lie- Neilson has a dowel sizing plate.
Good Luck,
Kimball