run to the store and buy a section of dowel or make scraps into dowels
needed some foot long dowels and only needed severl so found the right scraps
my concern was getting consistent diameter but they came out well and i got multiple colors using different scraps
sometimes the simplest projects can be satisfying
Its the same with turning knitting needles, which is really just a very long dowel. Love to do it, its not that hard and extremely satisfying. The trick is in knowing the secret of getting a uniform diameter the whole length.
the dowels i turned were all 12 inches or so and uniformity was not a problem but they were about half inch diameter
stability at the midsection seems to be the critical spot and any deflection there will give poor results
i use a piece of lether in my hand to keep it from bowing out
sharp tools helps a lot too
Sharp tools do make a huge difference. Next time (if the dowel will fit) t urn two sleeves one with a hole just larger than your dowel and fit the sle eve to your #2Morse taper in the tailstock. The other also has a #2Morse t aper, but is both bored for the dowel blank and sliced to give four "jaws" making it a collet. Bring the tailstock up and just leave a short distance open for turning. The collet jaws hold your stock and the sleeve keeps i t from flopping.
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