smitty0312 Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 What's the easiest way to find the dead center on the end of a round wood dowel? Thankyou Smitty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylures Posted October 2, 2005 Report Share Posted October 2, 2005 Hi there, I use a center finder that I purchased from a Woodcraft Store. It works awesome. If you can't find one check out Woodcraft online and see if you can find it in their catalog. If you can't find one or don't want to spend the money, send me your email address and I will send you a picture of one that I made. I like the heavy metal one better from Woodcraft. I hope this helps and if you need any info just pm or email me . Good luck Ken Schmitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatnik13 Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 Another cheap way is to shop a business store like Office max or whatever is near you and go to the mechanical drawing section and get a circle template. A good plastic template will have all your dowel diameter sizes and on that circle is a cross hair markers. Place the dowel threw the hole that fits snug and join the lines at the center by using a pencil . Now place a smaller hole over that cross hair you just made and center it and draw a circle that shows the smallest amount the you desire to have remaining and color it in with paint. ( my guess is that your going to lathe it) You can also use this method for ballancing the lure as it gets more detailed then I wish to write but its very accurate. The type off wood constitutes the ballance and how much the lure will sink into the water while stationary. The cost of a template >$6 or less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smitty0312 Posted October 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2005 Thankyou guys for all the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apb Posted October 10, 2005 Report Share Posted October 10, 2005 You can make a center finder out of scrap pieces around the shop. Take a section of 2 x 4 and cut it into a square. Take an old jig saw blade and insert it diagonally across the 2 x 4, blade facing up, partially exposed. I did mine by using the blade to make a groove, then epoxied it in place. Take two other pieces of scrap wood and attach them to the 2 x 4 so that they form a corner with the jigsaw blade where the two pieces meet. Place your dowel against the back wall and tap it with a mallet. Turn the dowel 45 degrees and tap again. Center is where the X is. Works for square stock too. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikedowel Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 Dowel Center job doing yourself is easy by 4 steps as i am aware of is 1) Stick the Wood 2) Support the Angle 3) Adjoin the Triangle 4) Evaluate the Center These 4 are simple and easy techniques to find the center of a dowel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 For round or square, easy to make out of Al angle and very handy. Pete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Young Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 That is a great tool, Pete. I have a carpenters version of the same tool. The 90 deg angle is bisected by the 45 degree angle. So a line drawn along the 45 deg line bisects the dowel. Do it in another spot and the intersection is the center of the dowel. Yor tool is much better than the carpenters version as it is scaled down to the relevant size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliders Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 Aussies make the best homebrew tools pete . Was worth sending you all out there for that alone , personaly I would let some of you back in .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 Centering squares generally what they are called. A 1 and 1/2 inch version works well for smaller dowels. Some pen turning sites also sell versions like Pete's and many make their own as he did as some like the longer length as it is easier for them to hold it and the blank at once while marking. Woodcraft has a pocket version. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted February 1, 2018 Report Share Posted February 1, 2018 22 hours ago, gliders said: Aussies make the best homebrew tools pete . Was worth sending you all out there for that alone , personaly I would let some of you back in .... -- In times past isolation may have had something to do with it Pete. Today it's probably boredom. I made that one about 10 years ago and still comes in handy. Travis, that's a beauty too. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 Estimating the centre of a small circle is easier than a large circle. Applying this principle: 1 - Open the bench vice slightly. 2 - Place the dowel on top of the jaws. 3 - place palm of hand on dowel and lightly push back and forth so the dowel rotates. 4 - touch a pencil on the end of the dowel while rotating. 5 - estimate the centre of the small circle. You can adjust the vice jaws to get the best rotation. This method has worked well for me. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted February 6, 2018 Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 That's a very cunning method Dave-- I have done similar in my metal lathe a few times and as you say it's pretty accurate. Pete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted February 7, 2018 Report Share Posted February 7, 2018 You can do it by taking a compass with a pencil in one end, setting it for approx. the radius of the dowel, and then swinging arcs from different points around the perimeter. You'll get enough overlapping arcs to show you the center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
