Dowels on a belt sander

[Dan]

I was in a pinch for some 1/8" dowels. I really wanted them made from padauk. I just tossed some thin scraps in the burn barrel. I pulled a piece out, ran it through the band saw to get a 3/16" x3/16" x 6" piece. Took that to the sander with 36-grit belt, and in a few seconds had a fairly round 1/8c dowel. I hand sanded to 180-grit and checked it with me guage. For thin dowels that are very close to round this was very fast and easy. 

[JustLarry]

Sometime back I needed some dowels from red cedar.  Cut a blank, chucked in in my battery drill, grabbed a sanding and held the pad around the wood with drill running.  After a little bit I put a leather glove on the sanding hand and continued on.  Needed 4 12 inchers.  Worked fairly well.

Larry

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I hit the lathe

[Lucky2]

I've used the drill press and a strip of 1" sander belt, it was a great way to do it unless you needed to have small sized dowels. The issue with making small dowels this way, is that there's no way to stop the bottom from bending away from you as you try to sand it.

Len