Dowel Plate from Amazon. Is it worth the money?

[@georgestgeorge5110]

I have mine recessed in a block of oak with corresponding holes drilled into it. Serves as a guide to keep the dowel straight.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Had I thought about it I probably would’ve mounted this into the bench with holes like you describe instead of chopping all the way through. It’s still working well but your solution sounds neat.

[@richjones5432]

When I occasionally need to make specific sized dowels I go behind my garage & drag out a old brake wheel disc. Over the years I have drilled several holes in it for one off dowels. There is nothing tougher than a used brake disc. Its been taken to silly temperatures & still comes back for more. For people whose background is not from the motor trade, I would say you can buy discs very cheaply indeed from the net. No more than £6 each. Use a sharp drill bit & pop a hole & you really are good to go. The item will take up no space because you just kick it out under a bush or behind your shed. But it really works guys.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Haha. How small is your work space that this needs to be kept under a bush? 😂 Great idea though.

[@richjones5432]

The point I was making .....you silly little C ock, is that its a simple tool, needs no special care & when it might not get used from one year to the next it can live outdoors & in summer time makes a great door stop. But I suppose you would go away & "Buy" a door stop. You sir have all the gear & NO idea.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

For the record I was laughing with you , not at you. As for being a “silly little”etc. not that little but sometimes guilty. And “all the gear no idea”. Well I am a hobbyist and these videos are me learning as I go, so again, this is occasionally accurate. I do enjoy the process though. Thanks for your feedback all the same.

[@BrainFizz]

I made my own dowel plate from simple 1/4” mild steel. I just drill what ever size holes I need for the job. I use it loads for making pegs and dowels when remaking and restoring sash windows and doors I think the steel cost me about £2. Remember though these plates are not for plugs, they relay on the friction created by the length and as such are for things like pegging and the like. Drilling the dowels through as you did works best for hardwoods, softwood can just be pounded through, also riven timber or very straight grained sawn timber works best by far.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

How has the mild steel held up over time? Thanks for your feedback!

[@BrainFizz]

@@CaptainofmyShed it’s absolutely fine, miles steel is still plenty strong enough to shape wooden dowels, even hardwood dowels. Even 1/4” thick plate feels like armour plating!

[@TomBuskey]

@@CaptainofmyShed I made one of mild steel too. I make oak dowels with it. If the wood is green it's even easier

[@Techno_Nomadic]

Might want to make a cover for that plate. Personally I'd have gone a few millimeters deeper and cut a plexiglass (or lexan or polycarbonate) rectangle to lay on top of it. It's to protect the edges from getting damaged by work above it, and said work from the plate. You might be able to cheat using piece of veneer with a couple loose dowels glued to the bottom to locate it over the plate.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

It is set about 1-2mm lower than the bench top so should be fine. I get your point though.

[@jimcarter4929]

Taper both ends, that way it will fall through plate at end of cut.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Nice tip! Thanks 🙏

[@johnshufelt]

Excellent! I have exactly this dowel plate on the way. Good job with patching up the router damage -- it happens.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Yeah it’s a handy tool.

[@lenroddis5933]

£32 is more than I paid for a Lie Nielsen dowel plate years ago and that came in a leather case! I always bought fluted dowels (glue area) and passed them through the plate to get a consistent size. Seemed pointless to set up my Dowelmax then use dowels that are over/under size and risk misalignment.. The dowelmax produced far more accurate joints than my biscuit jointer.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

I think Lie Nielsen are over £100 these days and only half the diameters. It’s already getting good use, very handy!

[@troyboy4345]

Great to use on those off cut strips that usually get thrown ... 😬 Price of dowels are silly to buy too.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Yeah I hear you. I think this is going to be a very handy addition to the workbench!

[@CrimeVid]

So,what percentage of the cost of a job do you think the dowels are ?

[@CaptainofmyShed]

@@CrimeVid , i suppose that depends on the job. Im just a hobbyist though so my paid jobs are occasional and really only serve to fund my hobby.

[@CrimeVid]

Yes, sorry to appear to be having a pop ! I buy the stuff in lengths and then the rest of it hangs around waiting for a job where I remember I've got it !

[@CaptainofmyShed]

@@CrimeVidmakes sense. If like me you are only using a couple of inches worth of any one size every 6 months then this plate works out far cheaper than buying. I can now just use something from my scrap bin and make as much or as little as I need. Also means I cut down on my “im sure I’ll use it one day” stock pile. 😂

[@Gwynbuck]

Half-millimetre increments - here's why. If you have bought dowel pieces, they are not always accurate, often they are slightly smaller than the size stated. Example: you want to fit a 12mm dowel and the fit has to be exact, so you put the 12mm dowel piece into the 11.5 mm hole, bash it through, then drill an 11.5mm hole in your workpiece. This ensures a perfect fit.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Thanks for your response. Why is it only the larger holes which have the half mill increments?

[@eromore]

dude, try sharpening it even if you hammer it - helps with locating the stock initially

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Will do. I did notice that getting it centered was an issue with that technique so I’ll take your advice for sure!

[@Thomllama]

I just subscribed for the simple laugh I got in the beginning when you said “Shed Heads” lololol

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Only simple laughs on this channel. 🤣🤣

[@MarcosElMalo2]

FYI, Mil is a unit of measurement in its own right. It’s much thinner than a millimeter! We all know what you meant from the context, but it’s something to keep in mind when specifying dimensions to someone else.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

What is a mil used to measure? I was today old when I learned this. I’ve shortened millimeter to mil my whole life and never heard this before.

[@davidhull2060]

I've been looking for a decent (by which I really mean cheap!) one of these for a while now. I think I might give it a go. The only word of caution that I would offer, is to be careful if you use a drill to feed the stock through the plate....it could get quite hot, and that might cause the steel to lose it's edge.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Yeah good point. I’ll probably be doing shorter lengths in future. But I’ll bare this in mind!

[@fredio54]

The lost art of aligning flat head screw slots. A long dead man called Billy Row who had a sweet silver 350 chev sedan and an in and out of jail son showed me this on our brass D profile belting on the boat when it was new in 1997 before launching. At the time the uneven torque upset me since the sole function of a screw is to retain the thing it passes through reliably, and it still nothers me to put the aesthetics of such a purely functional part ahead of the function. In this case it doesn't matter as the force of use does not oppose the screw tension, byt still... :-) RIP Billy Rowe, one legged Bob, etc.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Haha, yes form before function is rarely the way to go but pretty inconsequential in this case. “One legged Bob” sounds like the kind of character I would have liked to meet.

[@fredio54]

@@CaptainofmyShed I'll email you a screen shot of the huge post I put up re him and others inspired by your 2 screws :-D you might enjoy it, or perhaps it will horrify you, not sure.

[@drcl7429]

If you don't want to pay that much: Mini combination wrenches and a drill.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Where do the combo wrenches come into play?

[@drcl7429]

@@CaptainofmyShed I think you can figure it out.

[@jimrosson6702]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Thanks for the compliment. Plenty more to come

[@jalvrus]

The dowel you measured, was that the one made with the mallet or the drill? Did you measure both? Any difference?

[@CaptainofmyShed]

The one I showed was the one I drilled. The hammered one measured the same but was less consistent. As in a little wonky but definitely passable.

[@mm9773]

5:00 Don’t know what to think of this. To me, this looks like too much play for a dowel, even when you factor in glue and swelling. Not sure if you could ever expect a perfect fit, but I would think they’d design the holes to err on the thick side, because you can finagle a dowel to make it thinner, but not thicker.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

Yeah i know what you mean. I think it’s good enough but not perfect.

[@MrMikeEdie]

I guess it will be as straight as the thing that pushes it through.

[@CaptainofmyShed]

True that. User induced bendiness is likely in my workshop.