Types and Uses of Dowel Pins

A dowel pin is a solid tubular rod, made up of plastic, wood or metal. It is also known as dowel rod, which is often cut into short pieces known as dowel pins. This particular fastener is used in various applications, such as in gymnastic grips, detents, axles in toys, structural adjuncts, such as in cabinet making and is also used in supporting the wedding cakes.

Its other uses include the following:

  1. Used as pegs or moveable game parts
  2. Used as furniture self supports
  3. Used for hanging items, such as toilet paper, key rings, clothes, wall hangings etc.
  4. Used as a pivot to wrap cable or textiles
  5. Used to correctly align two objects in a dowel joint i.e. a hole is made in both the objects and this fastener is tucked into the aligned holes

Wooden Dowel Pins

For prudent manufacturing extents, wooden pegs are produced extensively on industrial dowel machines, which produce such wooden pieces of various diameters by their interchangeable cutting heads. Thus, as per the requirement and orders, fasteners are produced of certain diameters. Each head features a hollow chuck (a specific kind of clamp used to hold any object) and cutting knives, through which the wood is cut into desired shapes and sizes. These wooden fasteners are used in furniture industry, to reinforce joints and support shelves in cabinet making.

Metal Dowel Peg

The metal pegs are mainly used in masonry to embed stone components together. In this case, holes are made in the stone and the steel fasteners are inserted so as to fasten the components. These are used as locating devices in machinery to manage tolerance. They feature smaller diameter and thus, they easily slip into the hole. In automobiles, when accurate mating alignment is required, these metal pieces are used. They are used in transmissions, differential gear casings and in engines.

The dowel pins are used in various fields, as they exhibit diverse features and specifications. You can easily avail them online. The Internet is flooded with numerous web stores, dealing with such items. So, it’s always better to do a deep research before settling down on any particular company.