(Woodworker wannabe here)

I had a blowout on my recliner the other day. I preceeded to unstaple the
upholstery to find out that a crossmember had developed a split and the
attached bracketry came undone. To fix the issue, I swapped all the spring
retainer clips, and two metal brackets onto a new piece of wood. The ends
needed to be drilled to accomodate two dowels per end. The old ones were
3/8" OD dowels with some kind of spiral cut in them. I went to look for
some of these at Home Depot and I found I had two options. I could buy a
three foot hardwood dowel for 79 cents or for a dollar-fifty I could buy
some fluted, precut dowels in a bag. I bought the ones in the bag, thinking
the flutes may be better at holding glue.

What's better; the smooth dowel or the fluted dowel or the spiral-cut dowel?
What drill size would you use on a 3/8 OD dowel? Is it better to drill the
nominal size, a slight press fit, or a loose fit?

I drilled the holes using a 23/64 drill bit, slathered the fluted dowels in
Elmer's glue, and assembled the pieces using a furniture clamp. It's still
curing so I don't know how well the hold is going to be, so while I am
waiting, I figured on getting your dowel filled opinions.


Relz

Relz wrote:

What's better; the smooth dowel or the fluted dowel or the spiral-cut
dowel?

The flutes/spirals are to permit excess glue to escape. You can split
what you are doweling if smooth dowels are tight and there is too much
glue.
__________

What drill size would you use on a 3/8 OD dowel? Is it better
to drill the nominal size, a slight press fit, or a loose fit?

I don't use dowels much but when I do I drill the nominal size. If I
have a dowel that is actually that size (most are not) I use a handscrew
(clamp) to very slowly push it in....the excess glue is actually forced
through the pores of the tropical hardwood dowel and comes out the top.
____________

I drilled the holes using a 23/64 drill bit, slathered the fluted
dowels in Elmer's glue, and assembled the pieces using a furniture
clamp. It's still curing so I don't know how well the hold is going
to be, so while I am waiting, I figured on getting your dowel filled
opinions.

It should be fine.



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dadiOH
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