Is there Such a tool....?

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

Not sure if this tool even  exists, but you  know how wood  broom handles  are rounded at the end, just wondering if theres a tool that rounds off the ends of  8mm dowel , a tool that can be used like a drill attachment? 

I make fly swats using scraps of upholstery  leather, but after I cut the dowel into lengths, I have to  round off the ends one by one on a bench sander, and when I'm doing around 50 - 100   wood handles at a time, it gets laborious, not to mention a bit painful in the hands. 

HS 

[Spyros]

Did you try sticking one end in your drill and sand the other end on the belt sander?  It will go much faster.

The proper (and fast) way of doing it is on a router table with a round over bit and a featherboard to hold the dowel down, you just approach one end of the dowel to the bit and spin it a little.   If you have access to that sort of thing, or even just a router, you can make a jig and churn them out in minutes.

 

I know you're probably looking for like a drill bit or something, I don't think I've ever seen one like that...

[fredk]

2 hours ago, Handstitched said:

G'Day,

Not sure if this tool even  exists, but you  know how wood  broom handles  are rounded at the end, just wondering if theres a tool that rounds off the ends of  8mm dowel , a tool that can be used like a drill attachment? 

I make fly swats using scraps of upholstery  leather, but after I cut the dowel into lengths, I have to  round off the ends one by one on a bench sander, and when I'm doing around 50 - 100   wood handles at a time, it gets laborious, not to mention a bit painful in the hands. 

HS 

There is a tool for drills. Its called a 'Plug Cutter'

Its man use is for cutting a barrel shaped piece out of wood. The barrel shaped plug is later refitted into its hole to cover a screw or nail head, or to replace a damaged section. Usually the plug is straight sided and flat topped, but you can get cutters that make a rounded end. But whether you can a. find one of these types, b get one in the size you need is another set of questions

[toxo]

it wouldn't take much effort to make three round bottomed holes in a piece of 2x2 and glue different grades of sand/emery paper in the bottom.

[fredk]

you could start off the rounding using an electric/battery powered pencil sharpener

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multi-functional-Automatic-Electric-Pencil-Sharpener-Battery-Operated-Home-Study/363032086113?hash=item5486660661:g:fekAAOSwNpZe9gUZ

[chrisash]

In your quite times use a simple 3D printer to make round end plugs, I would guess even the cheapest printer could make a 12-18 in one go unattended, and just apply glue and place end over dowel

[Handstitched]

G'Day, thanks for all your ideas 

@fredk We're getting closer to a solution on this and also adapting the idea from  @toxo .

I had a look  at ' plug cutters' , that may work, but another idea that flashed past, was getting an old  worn plug cutter, modify it, and using toxo's idea, put some say,  medium sandpaper  on the inside of it. It will be fiddly but that may well do it.  

https://www.amazon.com/4-Piece-Plug-Cutter-Set/dp/B00BFY3DQ8

See the conical shape at the bottom ?

Theres also ' tapered' plug cutters .   That too may work.

Thanks  

HS

[Spyros]

I think plug cutters are for a different job, basically cutting small dowels.   They do have conical bottoms but there is no cutter down there, if you push your dowel against that bottom all you will do is burnish it.  The idea of sandpaper glued in the bottom of a hole sounds like it will work, question is what happens when the sandpaper is spent?  

Are you sure you don't have access to a small trim router?  All you have to do is clamp it upside down somewhere, but you'll need to buy a basic roundover bit, maybe $30 from bunnies.

[fredk]

When I made wood toys we often had to make dowels rounded over at the ends. We started them by using a pencil sharpener. The one we had was an old office one, with a crank handle. After this we held the end of the dowel on a belt sander clamped up-side down on the work bench and rotated the dowel. We would do a few hundred at a time in stages. One day I'd put the dowels thru the pencil sharpener, afair I got it down to 1 every 10 seconds. The next day I'd do the rounding on the belt sander, again afair 1 every 20 seconds. Thus a few hundred were done in a couple of days, enough for a few weeks output. I usually had to do the rounding as the other 2 workers were too impatient to stand/sit and do them. Sometimes if I felt the urge I'd do a small stock, well in advance of requirements, just a couple of hours and I could do several dozen dowels. We were using dowels in 3mm to 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 19mm and 24mm diameters, all but the 19 and 24 could go in the pencil sharpener.

[chuck123wapati]

drill a small hole in the center of one end and screw into it a woodscrew, cut off the head of the screw and chuck it up in a hand drill. then spin the wood piece against a belt sander. spin it in the opposite direction of rotation than the sander.

 

[Frodo]

use your table router and a jig

 

 

[fredk]

Apply Ockam's razor to your problem