besides using a lathe, what are some suggestions or exsisting hand tools that can produce accurate dowels?

Question

im trying to handcraft some earings (plugs) and for the time being i dont want to use any power tools. does anyone have any advice on how to get a precise rounded piece of wood? ive been using compases, rulers, squares, files, sandpaper, all sorts of things and the results have been frusterating.

Answer 1

You can make a human power driven lathe:
http://www.manytracks.com/lathe/lathe.pdf
http://www.mimf.com/archives/homade_lathe.htm
http://www.bodgers.org.uk/ (picture at the top left.)

Or just use a knife.
Start with a branch which is slightly thicker than your plug needs to be, whittle it down to size.
Roll it over a surface with coloured dust, until it gets dirty all over you are not completely round yet.
But mostly products of hand crafts are not completely uniform, and if the shape is a little out, often the fit is good enough.

Answer 2

Before I bought my little Micro-Mark lathe... I used to use a DRAW-KNIFE, SPOKE-SHAVE, and plane to create dowels:

Take off the corners, again and again until it is round ! It takes a light-touch, patience, and practice. I did it in Pine, Oak, Ash, and Mahogony

Here is a link to what a draw-knife is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawknife
Here is a link to what a spoke-shave is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spokeshave