Jig for perpendicular handsawing of dowels

[Eben Fourie]

I use a 44mm Meranti dowel for making wheels of wooden toys. Cutting the dowel on my bandsaw is a bit scary because every now and then the dowel rolls on the bandsaw table (even in a v-groove jig). After damaging yet another bandsaw blade, I decided to make this jig for handsawing the wheels. Bit more effort and sweat involved, but gives you nice 90-degree cuts across the length of the dowel. The slot is just large enough for the dowel to lie nice and snug without rolling around.

The front of the jig uses a "bench hook" type lip, so it can be held against the side of a bench, or clamped in a vice. I clamp it in the Tripton Superjaws, and simply sit on the back end for extra stability

[John Schreiber]

Looks good and solves the problem.

I use handsaws almost exclusively and would suggest trying a different saw. Most modern hand saws are junk. You can get very nice Japanese style pull saws at most hardware places for around $25 or you could spring for an expensive Western style push saw from one of the boutique makers.

Any of those will cut much more quickly and leave a better surface than most saws can offer.

[Jim Koepke]

I made a much smaller fixture for cutting smaller dowels.

Mine was just a hole bored into a block of wood, then it was cut in half along the hole to make a trough for the dowel to sit in and used like a miter box. With the hole cut in half, some sandpaper can be laid in the trough and the dowel can be given a round head. A wood screw in the side can be turned in to score the side of a long dowel before cutting to allow for glue to squeeze out.

A sanding block made from a piece with a hole bored and then cut allows for using sandpaper to round corners.

jim

[Eben Fourie]

Jim, sounds interesting, think I understand what you are explaining, but if you could post a pic I would appreciate it - I'm one of those people who needs to SEE something before I actually understand the words

John, here in South Africa we are severely limited with choice when it comes to decent tools. There are a couple (literally) of shops, but range is very limited and pricing is high. Most often it is cheaper and simpler just to import directly from North America, but then shipping, duties and taxes makes it quite a costly exercise.