from the bench of the Crude Carpenter

[empilolo]

While I look with awe and admiration at a dove tail or a tongue and groove joint; alas, to do it is beyond my ken. I boldly assume I am not the only one (judging from a post or two I have seen).

A somewhat simpler way of making a joint that does have some strength, but at the same time requiring only simple tools and even I can do it.

Let us start in a time honored fashion with a square peg and a round hole.



next we gently whack that square peg through the round hole.



we join the wood, secure with a nail or two (and using some glue, cramps and a try square when making a box is not a bad idea either). We then drill a couple of holes, same diameter as the round hole mentioned above, right through the two woods to be joined.



we now dip the once square peg, now a round dowel, into glue and hammer them into the pre-drilled holes. Finito.

Best done while all is still secured with a cramp or two.



the joined wood shown is only doweled, no glue was used here - but as you can see, it has considerable more strength than a simple nailed joint.

Oh, this works quite alright !

[Doorman]

this is the same method I use to build doors, some weighing 300 lbs. In my opinion it is much stronger than dove tail or box. I tend to be lazy however, and buy my dowels.

[Michael Bush]

I've never made a dowel except by whittling before.  I like the "square peg" method.  I may try it sometime.

[empilolo]

Doorman. Lucky you. Just go shop for what you need. But dowels do make for strong joints. I have made a few doors that way too, all solid hardwood. Mahogany and Iroko mainly (incidentally, the wood used for the pictures is Mahogany).

Michael Bush. If you make dowels this way, use a wood that does not contract/expand too much when driven through the hole. Whittling is fine if you make just one, but this way get's you any number fairly quick. Keep the iron piece with the hole handy for future use.

Dowels are used almost exclusively hidden, which is time consuming and requires precision. But for our utilitarian needs, that is not necessary. Just join the way you want the wood to join, drill the holes and hammer in the dowels, trim off excess length of dowels, finished.

Where I live, a lot of the time it is either make it yourself or forget about it. A scrap-yard is not a final resting place for junk, but a wonderful place where one can find oh so many useful things.

[randydrivesabus]

what kind of wood did you use to make the dowel? and how gentle did you pound it through the hole to round it?
this is very cool.

[empilolo]

what kind of wood

we used mahogany, some off-cuts from making a piece of furniture. Mahogany (rather Sapele or Lagos Wood) is common here - a bit like pine in Europe.

and how gentle did you pound it through the hole

gentle but firm. Depends on the type of wood you use. This is as good as any a way to re-cycle some wood scraps, so use some to practice. But since I can do it, it has to be easy enough.

The reason for my post is to show that, well, you can do a credible job in many instances without jigs and routers. However, if you give me a nice table saw and router, I would use them. At the same time, if I could buy ready made dowels, I would, rather buy, than make my own (good commercially made dowels are sort of "fluted", which goes for better joints).

[randydrivesabus]

maybe you could flute them by making your die in that pattern....

[Doorman]

thats a good idea randy, a slightly smaller hole with teeth filed around the perimeter.

[super dave]

i worked for a timber framing contractor and we used to cut the corners off the square pegs on the talbe saw to let them fit thru the round hole a little easier

[kensfarm]

"Let us start in a time honored fashion with a square peg and a round hole."

Very nice..  do you have any pictures of your finished hives or other woodwork? 

"A scrap-yard is not a final resting place for junk, but a wonderful place where one can find oh so many useful things."

I agree..  as kids we searched the junk piles for wheels or other things for the projects we would build..  always fun until we'd find a yellow jacket or wasp's nest. 

[empilolo]

I did not use dowels for my Top Bar Hives. But I have used dowels extensively, even for office furniture. A drawer chest

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/empilolo/draw1.jpg

sorry for the quality of the next picture. Note the dowel from the top, tongue and grove at the right of the corner joint. That chest is over 10 years old and saw a lot of "abuse". Dowels can be visually quite attractive too, to crude people anyway.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y32/empilolo/drawdet1.jpg

solid mahogany hardwood framed plywood, light yellow wash (emuslion paint) and lacquered.

[kensfarm]

That is a beautiful piece of work..  I have been making some wood w/ a chainsaw mill..  but taking care of the farm animals takes up most of my time now. 

[2-Wheeler]

Yes, I agree, very fine work.

It's probably too nice for the bees too, but those side pull supers might be a good way to access the honey.  :-D
And with the size of that honeycomb, I'm afraid to ask how big the bees are?  :shock:

[mick]

Why didnt you just build a shelf to put your drink bottle on?