Dowel

A dowel is a solid cylindrical rod, usually made from wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is called a dowel rod. Dowel rods are often cut into short lengths called dowel pins. Dowels are employed in numerous, diverse applications including axles in toys, detents (e. g., in gymnastics grips), structural reinforcements in cabinet making, and supports for tiered wedding cakes. Other uses include:

Wood dowel

Manufacturing process

The traditional tool for making dowels is a dowel plate, an iron (or better, hardened tool steel) plate with a hole the size of the desired dowel. To make a dowel, a piece of wood is split or whittled to a size slightly bigger than desired and then driven through the hole in the dowel plate. The sharp edges of the hole shear off the excess wood.