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Turning Dowel

Hi All,

I am thinking about purchasing a lathe to help make a specific part in a project I am working on. The part is a wood peg similar to the small pegs sold at many supply companies. Like this...

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pegs I need to make are very small. The largest part of the pegwill be 3/8 inch. So, my question is... Can I put a 3/8 inch (36 inch long) dowel in a lathe and turn it? Is that too small to turn? Would the dowel bow in the middle? I realize that I am probably showing my ignorance in this area by even asking these questions.

Thanks,

Eric

Reply to
evance
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Hi All,

I am thinking about purchasing a lathe to help make a specific part in a project I am working on. The part is a wood peg similar to the small pegs sold at many supply companies. Like this...

formatting link
pegs I need to make are very small. The largest part of the pegwill be 3/8 inch. So, my question is... Can I put a 3/8 inch (36 inch long) dowel in a lathe and turn it? Is that too small to turn? Would the dowel bow in the middle? I realize that I am probably showing my ignorance in this area by even asking these questions.

Thanks,

Eric

Reply to
evance

A dowel that long would certainly flex and chatter. I like the Shaker peg as a teaching tool - perhaps the Shakers did as well - because it has the basic cove,bead, taper and shoulder cuts. But you turn one at a time between centers, or if you have a chuck, with the broad end free.

I don't use dowels, preferring to spin up cutoffs from recent projects. Scraps of all kinds of wood make good pegs, though hardwood is my preference.

Reply to
George

You would make those one at a time. If you buy a three-jaw chuck you can pass a dowel through the lathe's hollow shaft and out the chuck for turning. Turn one, cut if off, push more dowel out, and repeat. If you want to use turning squares, use a 4-jaw chuck.

Reply to
Dan Bollinger

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