Toolcool Electric Drill Carbide Inserts Dowel Maker High Speed Dowel Cutter Plate (Imperial 8 Holes)

I had my doubts about this dowel maker because things that look so simple rarely are. However, I'm here to tell you, this dowel maker works just fine. I screwed it to a 2x4 and clamped that down. I set it for 3/8", which I need some dowels of that size. Next, I used my oscillating spindle sander with 40 grit paper to sand the end down enough so it would go into the hole and slightly through it (the cutting edge of the dowel cutter). Also, I sanded the other end down smaller so I could put it in my drill chuck. Next, I sanded the edges of my future dowel down so the dowel cutter didn't have to take as much off. And, that was pretty much it. I got a good medium speed on my drill and pushed the stick through and on the other side came a dowel; a 1/4 sawn Oak dowel. Pretty neat. I was a little worried that my stick wasn't centered on my drill chuck, but that wobbliness didn't seem to matter when I pushed it through the cutter. The dowel still came out round and straight. The dowel does need some sanding, but that wasn't a huge deal. So, if you're looking for a good cutter so you can have dowels of different sizes made (more importantly) out of whatever wood species you want. then this is a device for you.

Solid construction. Works as expected

It makes dowels without too much trouble, but it takes a little practice. Even so, the dowels are quite rough, so it's not good for making spindles that are exposed. It is okay for making dowel plugs.

Great fixture for creating new dowels for precision projects!!

Not something that I would recommend. I was unable to get one dowel to come out useable. This jig uses a scraping cut and not a shearing for the dowels. Every dowel came out with torn and chipped finish. Good idea but poor performance. I would not recommend this product.

Anyone doing woodworking knows that being able to quickly produce dowels of various diameters is a great benefit. That was my hope in purchasing this product. I’ve purchased dowel plates, and DIYed a few jigs to achieve this goal, but most solutions result in roughly hewn sticks that require some sanding prep to use them. When a tight tolerance is required you might end up with something slightly small. One solution is to move up a size and then sand the snot out of it. Well, this is exactly my experience with this item. When I can’t find a suitable dowel in the cutoff rack, I groan and realize the next 25 minutes of my life will see me fiddling with this thing and then sanding… Oh, well. In the end it works.

First, it’s effective. Second, practice makes…results. I tried it out by experimenting first. Turned out to be a good move. Try it out couple of times with scrap wood to get the feel of this device. A few observations: You can hand-feed wood into it, it’s that sharp. But, you’ll need a lot of time and even more patience. That’s not me. Next up-a hand-crank drill. Better but still painfully slow. And the cranking force made it tough to maintain alignment. Lastly-power drill. That’s the main ingredient in success sauce. Ran it fast and correctly aligned. Consider a power drill. I rasped the experimental wood down until it fit into the chuck of my drills, that worked. Alignment is absolutely critical. If you shift position while using this tool, the diameter will change as the material moves closer or further away from the cutter. And increase the chances of splintering. This shouldn’t be an issue with shorter jobs-I was turning 12-16 inch long pieces of oak. The starting end usually gets a little banged up and splintery, so I’d add an extra inch or two to your project piece and cut the excess off when done turning it down. Recommended for dowel needs. Feed rate controls finish- a very slow feed gives the best finish.

Works great no more buying dowl rod to match my projects