On Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:10:06 -0500, Bill wrote:

My guess is that Red Oak is a better choice than Poplar (those appear to
be my only choices in 1" dowels) that aren't broomstick handles! It
should stand up to abuse better, correct?

Bill, take your calipers with you and go someplace like Woodcraft, not a
lumber yard. I needed some 1.25" dowels a short time ago. I found some
maple that was 0.002" undersize. I could have just been lucky, but I
tested several more than I needed and they were all in that range.

Should you wind up with a slightly loose fit, use epoxy instead of wood
glue and it'll fill the gaps.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw