What is the furniture dowel and the rules of his choice

The universal dowel furniture is a special fixture made of wood, which is used in the manufacture and assembly of furniture. It has a cylindrical elongated shape, there is corrugation on the surface. In some cases, the dowel not only replaces metal fasteners, but also works better than them. At the same time, the price of dowel is more affordable.

Application area

Before describing how to use this fastener, you should understand what a dowel is. The dowel in the design allows you to stabilize and position the parts. It does not interfere with the disassembly of products if necessary.

The dowel will allow you to accurately connect the elements. During operation of a finished product, such a fastener takes over the entire transverse load. This is a universal reliable fastener.

Wooden dowels are actively used for the manufacture and assembly of furniture, their length and diameter are selected in accordance with the thickness of the parts. The diameter should be about a third of the wall thickness of the product - so you can ensure the most reliable assembly, while maintaining a high degree of strength. Length is chosen individually.

Varieties

In fact, the dowel is a small spike - it is a hidden type of furniture fixture. In appearance, it resembles a rod in the shape of a cylinder, with slightly rounded or simply truncated ends on both sides. Sometimes for assembling furniture on dowels, not only wooden elements are used, but also plastic ones. They have a slightly different purpose:

• Wooden are needed for positioning and joining furniture parts from MDF, particleboard, plywood, massive rocks;
• Plastic mainly connect parts when installing collapsible cabinet panel furniture.

There are also metal products. They have improved strength characteristics, they are also called - dowels, pins. But the most commonly used are wooden dowels of size 30 by 8, that is, the length is 30 mm and the diameter is 8 mm. There is also a smaller diameter - 6 mm. You can buy different types in construction stores or in markets. If desired, you can make dowels with your own hands.

On wooden dowels there are different grooves:

• Straight vertical;
• Helical - located at a slight angle to the vertical axis;
• Complex - there are transverse and longitudinal recesses - they also allow you to make the adhesive bond stronger;
• Horizontal - help to make the adhesive bond as strong as possible;
• Smooth - do not have corrugation.

The corrugation helps the air to pass during the installation of dowels, improving the adhesion of the glue with the "glue" method of connecting parts.

Characteristics and Sizes

Dowels may vary in length and diameter. Diameter sizes range from 4 to 30 mm and lengths from 15 to 200 mm. By customer’s order, they are made in any variation, where D is the diameter and L is the length of the product.

Shkant is a popular fastener, in connection with which professionals try to pre-purchase parts in bulk in order not to waste time and money on constant purchases. The advantages of fasteners include:

• Corrugation of the surface on the rod - this helps to qualitatively fix the parts, ensuring their strong adhesion;
• An improved view of furniture, because the fasteners are completely hidden from view;
• Possibility of selecting the diameter and length required for assembly of the product, in accordance with the design features.

Mounting and removal methods

Furniture dowels make it possible to significantly increase the strength of the joints. But this is not such an easy way as it might seem right away: the connection cannot be secured if any hole is displaced. Depending on the size of the displacement, the result will be unsatisfactory.

As a rule, with a dowel, countertops are mounted on dining and writing tables. Put them in a working position like this:

1. On the front side of the parts, first they mark out, and then drill holes to the desired depth. The same holes are made in countertops. They must match;
2. Cylindrical fasteners are installed in the end hole, the upper end protrudes a distance equal to the depth of the hole of the covering part;
3. To strengthen the dowel in the hole, it is abundantly lubricated with glue, fixing it in the right position. Sometimes the glue is poured into the holes, where the fastener is then inserted - this will completely cover its ribbed surface with glue, improving the adhesion strength of the elements;
4. The second structural part is superimposed on the mounted dowel.

There are 3 main problems of furniture assembly through dowels:

1. It is possible to assemble the edge-to-edge connection, but at the same time there is a mismatch of the planes of the structural parts. Solution: the drill guide bushings were not aligned with the central part of the edges of the parts. The fixture must be constantly aligned on the base planes of the two fastened parts. Even in the absence of a central arrangement of holes in the joint, no shifts or sagging are formed;
2. The holes in one part do not match the other. Solution: to align the holes, special markers are used, designed just for connections. Initially, drill holes are made in one part. Then a marker is inserted into each hole, and both parts are pressed against each other such as they should hold after assembly. Thus, marks on the second part will remain markers in the places where you should drill;
3. The holes were made in the right places, but the installation of the dowels is violated: the fasteners do not crawl or, conversely, fall out. Solution: It is important to make sure that the diameter of the mounts matches the diameter of the holes. Factory fixtures are mass produced, may have a diameter slightly larger or smaller than stated. In addition, the tree may swell or dry out when humidity changes. When the diameter is verified and it is identical, the problem is the wear of the drill jig and, as a consequence, the deviation of the drill. This leads to deformation. It is enough to change the bushings or purchase a new device.

In order to properly assemble the furniture details on the dowel, you need to learn three basic rules:

1. For marking, use a sharp simple pencil or knife. A pencil with a thick rod does not mark accurately;
2. When drilling holes, you need to use drills with a central tip. Spiral drill with conical sharpening can deviate to the sides during operation, setting the wrong direction;
3. For the same hole depth, a snap ring is put on and firmly fixed. The hole depth is 2 to 3 mm greater than the length of the dowel.

You can make cylindrical mounts yourself. Here is a short instruction on how to make dowels: For this, birch logs are taken and split into many parts - square blanks are obtained. Then they need to be trimmed manually or on a lathe to give a cylindrical shape and the required diameter. Fasteners can also be made using a circular saw.

It happens that the dowel breaks off, and one half remains in the hole. The first thing you want to do is to take a drill and drill a chip. This is not true, as the hole will be larger, and picking up a new mount is more difficult.

The correct solution is to take a drill with a smaller diameter and drill in the center of the wreck. Then, using a screwdriver, chisel or chisel, break the remains of the debris and remove them from the hole. In case of difficulties, you can use the photo instructions - there are a lot of them on the Internet.

So, with proper use, the furniture dowel is a universal mount guaranteeing reliability. It is used to assemble different types of furniture in conjunction with other types of fixtures.

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