Ramrod Dowels

I wonder. Will check. Lee Valley has oak. Hardware store hardwood dowels can work, but grain must be right, and the colour is off.
 
I'm thinking Track of the Wolf or Dixie might be the best bet unless you get lucky at the local hardware store. Stain for colour.

Most people I know never use a wood rod. Replace with a polymer rod of some sort or a metal range rod.
 
Most hardwood dowels have cross grain that can split and be very dangerous. A proper ramrod can be bought from a company like Traditions or Track of the Wolf for less than $30.00 including shipping.
 
I have come to think that the only source is to buy some clear straight grained oak and hand make them. I have turned 2 or 3 on my metal lathe. Support the end with the drill chuck partially open. The local stores seem to only sell maple these days

cheers mooncoon
 
There's a place in Burlington, Ontario called "Exotic Woods" and they have doweling. exotic-woods.com is their url.
When I lived in Toronto many years ago we got wood from Unicorn Universal Woods. It seems from a web search that they may not still be there but I'm not sure.
In BC, there is a place called Windsor Plywood. They have a lot of exotic wood and way more than plywood. Good luck!
 
I've looked with no success, including online. Local craft store "hardwood" doweling appears to be the same stuff CT and Home Hardware carry. no other local options for me. TOTW is best bet I think.

I had a proper hickory ram rod shear off and go through my palm years ago. I couldn't get anything except general purpose hardwood doweling locally, so for years after that I simply used that cheap doweling BUT I used my short starter to ram the thing home so that if it did break, my hand was protected. Honestly although yes a few broke, I could usually tell before they broke and never stabbed myself again.

Nowadays though I use a metal range rod...

In fact I bought TOTW hickory ramrod dowelling for my daughter's .36 and IT broke on us a few weeks ago, so... that one also I made a range rod for, and will be sticking with that.

Have thought of using brass TUBING as a ramrod to alleviate weight, but never executed it yet. Could even fill it with something to prevent bending (even rubber tubing like fuel or vaccum line inside). Haven't tried polymer I'm sure it works well.
 
I don't mind ordering from the US. There used to be a length limit on the size of a parcel that could be mailed from the US.
 
ryan said:
If you can't find anything suitable in wood, home depot has aluminum rod in different sizes for about 7 bucks.
Click to expand...

++

That's what I have been using. Works great and no risk of a broken rod skewering your hand. Cheap to.

M
 
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Using a range rod makes sense. I'm looking for good hickory dowels to make replacement rods for antiques in my collection.
 
tiriaq said:
I don't mind ordering from the US. There used to be a length limit on the size of a parcel that could be mailed from the US.
Click to expand...

A bit tongue in cheek but have them put a 5 foot length in a box that is 3 feet by 4 feet. For 4 foot rods, a package that was 30" x a little over 36" would hold the rods diagonally

cheers mooncoon
 
NorthCoastBigBore said:
I had a proper hickory ram rod shear off and go through my palm years ago.Honestly although yes a few broke, I could usually tell before they broke and never stabbed myself again.
Click to expand...

I always push the ball down in a series of taps and grip the rod about 6" above the muzzle to reduce the risk of puncturing my hand and somewhat reduce the risk of the rod breaking. I think I break a rod about every 2 or 3 years and usually epoxy them back together. Until recently I thought that the biggest risk of breaking a rod was from the rod bending between my hand and the muzzle. About 2 years ago I was featured in a promotional video and what surprised me in viewing it was how much the rod whipped back and forth above my hand. I now think that while a series of taps protects my hand, the whipping back and forth may weaken the rod in the areas of flaws in the grain

cheers mooncoon
 
Not sure where you are located. I once had a 10 foot long parcel delivered to my P.O. box in Washington. I just drove over to pick it up. Same for an 8+ footer.
Just another option if you're near a border.
 
Phenolic rod makes a decent ramrod, but for all the great suggestions the only authentic material for an antique is wood.

I can't help you with dowel sourcing, but I am doing it the hard way to make a ramrod for an underhammer build. I am using nice straight grain white oak that I cut 22 years ago, ripped into square strips and fed through a series of goose-gobbed cutters to get down to diameter. Then the hand sanding begins, white oak (don't use red oak, it is too brash and the colour is not right) is very hard and the finishing takes time. One bonus to the hand work is that I can create a swell in the right place for retention.
It is a lot of work, and my ramrod is under 2 ft long, but it sure looks authentic.
 
i made mine from oak. 41 inches long. 4 straight grained pieces glued lengthwise and then rounded off with a hand plane. bends to almost 90`, might go farther but haven't tried. cross section looks like a pie with 4 pieces. capped the end with a cut off 3030 case that i dished out the primer pocket on with a drill bit, and filed off the rim. the rod is slightly bent which is good as that keeps it in the ramrod pipes.
i stained it black, but oak does not take stain so well and it kind of looks like crap. it`s rammed over 1000 balls rather carelessly and will probably ram another 1000 easily.
i`d post pics but it looks like a stick.
the USS Constitutions masts were made the same way, which made for very strong and flexible masts.
 
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