Can you use a dowel pin that is a little shorter or longer ? Sometimes a little difference in length will produce an unexpected difference in price.
I pasted two prices below from two distributors, but if you need them 7 times cheaper, that's anywhere from 2 cents to less than 1 cent per dowel. I have also pasted contact info for some dowel manufacturers you could contact direct, at the bottom of the post.
Dowel pins are generally cost effective or what they do. I think it's just a matter of finding a manufacturer that wants or needs your business and then work with them to get the price as low as possible, but I have no idea if it will be 1 or 2 cents per dowel.
What if you purchased some hardened bearing shafting in long lengths and cut it down to 1" long sections ? Other than that I'm not sure what might be cheaper than a dowel, unless you can replace the dowel with a different method.
Here is the cheapest I found at
Order in Multiples of 100
Price: $11.71 per 100
In stock: 37349
Mfr: Value
Mfr #: 241100P
12 cents per dowel from MSC, but I'm not sure what specs they meet.
The dowel listed directly below is from
which is where I usually get them. Part # 98381A475 (14 cents each, meets ASME B18.8.2)
$14.14 per Pack of 100
Material Type Steel
Finish Plain
Steel Type Hardened Steel
Pin Type Dowel Pins
Dowel Pin Type Standard
System of Measurement Inch
Diameter 1/8"
Overall Length 1"
Length Tolerance ±.01"
Suggested Hole Size .1245" to .1250"
Double Shear Strength 3,200 lbs.
Rockwell Hardness C50
Specifications Met American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)Note Actual diameter is +.0002" over the nominal diameter with a tolerance of ±.0001".
ASME Specification ASME B18.8.2
I sometimes use
as well. You could try to find out who supplies the distributors and talk to the manufactures direct.
I think Holo Krome
supplies Reid, and I have seen "socket source"
on some dowel boxes from Mcmaster, along with "ITW BEE LEITZKE" from Iron Ridge WI 53035...
ITW BEE LEITZKE
John
