January 2005 meeting hosts Miller Dowels, Toy Contest

Rorke Miller introduced his father's invention, the Miller Dowel. Actually a trunnel, his product acts more like a nail than a dowel and has the advantage of being all wood, so it isn't an obstacle for nicking sharp tools. The dowels themselves are stepped, and this design provides a good key into the wood, and also as you hammer it home, really tightens the parts together. They also provide a stepped drill bit.

The miller dowel is available in three sizes, and also in a whole host of woods, the miller dowel team are planning to produce the dowel in other woods in the future as well. These can be used to blend in with woods being used on projects, however it makes a nice feature when contrasting dowels. Rorke pointed out that it is an ideal replacement of screws. As the dowel itself is wood, it will form a good bond, it will “move” with the expansion and shrinkage in the timber, it also will not split the wood – which makes it a wise choice for MDF too.