Completely capture the blank for DIY dowels
After reading an article in WOOD magazine about making your own dowels, I decided to share the simple jig I came up with to make 3⁄4 " dowels for Boy Scout toolbox kits. (It could be adapted for different sizes of dowel as well.) The jig captures the dowel blank for complete control, while the pushblock keeps fingers out of the block.
To use the jig, choose a round-over bit with a radius half the thickness of your blank, place the fence flush with the bit's bearing, and set the bit height to create a perfect quarter-round. With the dowel blank in place as shown, guide it through the router bit with the jig against the fence. Rotate the blank one quarter turn with each pass and in no time, you'll have a custom dowel.
—Kevin Godshall, Wyalusing, Pa.