We just got a dowel machine and made the heads for 1/4 , 1/2 , 3/4, 1" and 1 1/2 inch.
I dont have any experience in what the customer expects. They come out of the machine very smooth but does the customer do the final sanding or does the manufacturer ?¿
When you buy them in a store, they are sanded and symmetrical ???
That would depend on the end use. We manufacture dowels that are further machined after they leave our plant so we send them out with a knife finish only.
stevareno :
These will be going to retail stores. I have never known what people buy dowels for. As a dowel maker you must know what people do with them. Can you tell me ??
I keep a variety of dowel sizes on hand in my little woodworking shop : axles on toys, plugs over screw heads, line-up pins in furniture, clothes closet rods.
Any dowels I buy are usually Birch or Maple. What species will you be using? There may be a market for dowels that match the exotic boards you sell. I have lots of ideas but only one finger knows how to type :D
Sprucegum :
The dowels we are making are of the exotics we currently produce. Most of them work but some of the species with the nice looking twisted grain have to much tear out. We have found out that burl dowels are much closer to hand grenades than wood when they go thru the machine yet we can plane small burl table tops up to 20 inch with the helical head planer with no problem.
Bloodwood, purpleheart and many other simple woods actually come out of the dowel machine with a shine.
Jim, The dowels we produce are made of hickory. Drumsticks are produced from these. The reason you're getting tearout is because a dowel machine cuts against the grain of the wood. The planer is cutting with the grain which will produce a much smoother cut. I would say it's possible to get a good cut on the dowel maching without tearout if the tooling is sharp and good pressure on the guides. If you're cutting away a fair amount of wood try slowing the feed rate. We produce our dowels on a moulder.
You lost me.
You bought a machine and then you seek customer input?
jim
You know that some times you can get a great deal on things . ones that are hard to pass up , and I could use that some day deals .
Solid woods: You got it right, a customer wants a lot of dowels out of bloodwood , purpleheart and the other exotics we have so my partners bought a used machine and sent it down. We had to make the knives as it was not complete but they do not polish the dowels as I would like.
We made some knives using the helical head carbon squares and they are improving.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Copia_de_Dowel_28-06-08_023.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Copia_de_Dowel_28-06-08_026.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/Copia_de_dowels_2.JPG)
Ahhhh nice pics.
Good simple machine.
How about adding right in line some flap sanders?
I'm guessing 4 side.
There are sanding wheels made of a soft felt like material with grit but those would require more precision.
Cheap , simple. Just put them on a slide so the sanding pressure can be changed as the flaps wear.
Also I see molding sanders on auctions allot. Super cheap, the shop builds are real cheap (and a good bargain because lg. factories just copy other machines but no brand name so they go cheap) But they won't be 4 side. A machine like that could be moded to go 4 side. Flap sanding isn't high precision.
jim
Quote from: Sprucegum on June 24, 2008, 09:22:53 PM
I keep a variety of dowel sizes on hand in my little woodworking shop : axles on toys, plugs over screw heads, line-up pins in furniture, clothes closet rods.
Any dowels I buy are usually Birch or Maple. What species will you be using? There may be a market for dowels that match the exotic boards you sell. I have lots of ideas but only one finger knows how to type :D
I made some dowels from blue-green stained birch and inserted them into screw counter sink holes in a cherry display box for some salmon flies. Kind of interesting and simple way to show some contrast.