Author Topic: DIY Shaft maker.  (Read 9601 times)

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Offline Morgan

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DIY Shaft maker.
« on: October 11, 2017, 07:51:59 pm »
Disclaimer. If you make this and hurt yourself it isn't my fault.
I have been looking at various dowel makers and diy dowel making videos. Decided to try to make one. I have a really crummy 8" table saw that I got in a bundle with some other tools that weren't crappy for $30. The others were worth way more than $30 but I had to take the saw too. The saw has a bent arbor making it nearly useless for making any kind of accurate cut. But it will work for this.

First I cut a piece of 5/8 plywood to near the Distance between grooves.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2017, 08:08:40 pm by Morgan »

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2017, 07:53:30 pm »
Then cut two runners from plywood for the grooves and glued to my plywood plate

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2017, 07:55:05 pm »
The cut you see on that is for the blade.
Next I ripped a 2x4 in half and cut to length of plywood plate

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2017, 07:56:19 pm »
Next I glued two tabs of plywood between the 2x4 pieces.

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2017, 07:57:46 pm »
Next mark 3 spots for drilling at same height as highest blade setting.

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2017, 08:00:11 pm »
Next drill holes through both 2x4's. I did 23/64 11/32, and 5/16. This leaves a rough surface that requires sanding, so I'd drill 3/8, 23/64 and 11/32 if I had to do it again.

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2017, 08:02:08 pm »
Next I drilled through one of the 2x4 pieces with a 5/8 bore bit. It was biggest I had and takes about a 7/16 square blank.

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2017, 08:07:04 pm »
Glue to plywood plate centered on cut line. Clamp plate to saw with hole you will be using centered with blade arbor.
By hand turn your ripped blanks into the 5/8 hole raise the blade till it just starts cutting and continue to raise blade a little at a time till it turns blank down enough to enter hole on opposite side. Pull blank out and chuck that turned piece into a drill. Spinning the drill and feeding slowly slowly through jig. works ok. Not perfect but it'll do.

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2017, 08:21:15 pm »
The tighter fit your blank is to the first hole the better, and the tighter fit from the blade into the second hole, the better. The second hole will burnish the roughness off if it is tight enough.

Offline Knoll

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2017, 09:29:42 pm »
COOL! Thanks for taking the time.
... alone in distant woods or fields, in unpretending sproutlands or pastures tracked by rabbits, even in a bleak and, to most, cheerless day .... .  I suppose that this value, in my case, is equivalent to what others get by churchgoing & prayer.  Hank Thoreau, 1857

Offline Morgan

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2017, 09:25:32 pm »
Couple things I learned today playing with this.
1: finish is better if you spin the drill the same direction as the blade.
2: round stock finishes way way better than square. I cut some maple limb wood from a brush pile that was on average the size of the entrance hole of the jig. This produced a very nice end result and is probably what I will use rather than ripped boards. Guaranteed the grain is better and limb wood is free.
Pretty sure a fine blade with more teeth would be better than the blade I have on the saw.

Offline Yorec

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2017, 12:35:43 am »
I've tried the steel plate with holes drilled in it version with marginal success at best....

Gonna tray this one next - thanks!

Offline Stoner

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Re: DIY Shaft maker.
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2017, 09:28:19 pm »
Try a hex bolt in the drill chuck. Then put the corresponding size socket on the bolt head with a 3/8 drive. Shave a smidgin off the 7/16 square stock to fit in the 3/8 drive square hole. John