12 mm Dowelling and 12mm drill bit?

[Lusi83]

I'm trying to fix some wood dowelling into a piece of board (making a wellie rack!) - just have the dowelling sticking up out of the wood so it needs to be a snug fit ... (with some glue but the strength will come from the fit)
I know this is possible I have a hoop set and a toddler toy like this...

I have 12 mm dowelling and 13mm drill bits - but these are too loose -thinking the idea is for the dowelling to go straight through. (I have a set of drills and there is a 10mm bit and a 16mm bit - seems like for 9 mm and 15mm dowelling respectively)
I need to go buy something....
Will a 12mm bit create a snug fit for 12 mm dowelling?

Would it be better to get something a mm smaller? (but 11mm don't seem a common size) or use the 10mm and try and make the hole bigger with 'something' ...

 

[foxhole]

Match drill bit size to dowel, all sizes available.

 

[Lusi83]

So 12mm drill bit will be a snug enough fit?
(I was sold my first 13mm drill bit 20+ years ago as the right size to use with 12 mm dowelling for another project by a wood yard/ builders merchant place...maybe they were taking the p**s out of me - being a young female and all that at the time... )

 

[Deleted member 174758]

So 12mm drill bit will be a snug enough fit?
(I was sold my first 13mm drill bit 20+ years ago as the right size to use with 12 mm dowelling for another project by a wood yard/ builders merchant place...maybe they were taking the p**s out of me - being a young female and all that at the time... )

Sounds like they were! For dowelling I'd suggest using an auger bit or brad point twist drill rather than a flat/spade/speed bit. They cut straighter

 

[Lusi83]

I went to a shed and had a chat with a helpful assistant - I decided to use 15mm dowelling for my big wellies and 12mm for the children's wellies

I got a 14 mm flat bit and 11 mm round bit -if it was too tight I wriggled the drill around a bit and now have a nice snug fit on 15mm and 12mm dowelling ...
Just wish I realised that years ago...original project was a shoe rack to fit in a wardrobe - which I've still got but have adjusted over the years (shortened to fit a different space and added extra bars for tiny children's shoes) - two wood planks as sides with dowelling bars to hold the shoes. It was so loose I made the dowelling go through the sides, made tiny holes in the dowelling ends and pushed tiny wood shards through like a split pin to secure them ... oh if only I still had that amount of patience!

 

[JohnD]

some of the more modern glues will fill a gap, like Gripfill, NoMoreNails or the much cheaper own-brands. I almost always use the solvent-free ones as you can clean up with water.

Should work fine if the fit is a bit loose.