Had a little trouble getting a project done this weekend, a heart shaped box with a cover that slides down over the box. Things didn’t fit as I thought they would.
Is there a rule of thumb when setting a dowel hose size that works best for gluing? 3/16" (0.1875) dowel fits super snug into a 3/16" hole, but what do you add for glue? I drilled a hole on my drill press with a 13/64" (0.203) bit and it was sloppy. I might have to make a dowel size jig to know for sure.
When designing a part to slide down over another part, like a box cover, what offset do you find works best? For example a box with a 1/2" side wall, how thick would the lip be from the inside of the box and outside of the cover to get a snug but not sloppy fit? 0.245" lip on each did not seem to work too well.
This is one of the reasons I like to use a dowel plate to make dowels — it tends to compress them a bit, then they will expand with the moisture from the glue.
Best thing is to do a test fit in a prototype made of scrap.
Unfortunately, I think the amount of clearance you compute depends on a too many factors for a simple rule of thumb to be any more than a starting point.
For example, the friction/smoothness of the surface finish, sanding loss, finish thickness, tool run-out/precision, material ability to hold that precision, humidity, temperature, etc.
All that said, I generally aim for something like 0.2mm gap when done for an easy fit that touches, but doesn’t resist, in plastic or a little bigger in wood if I’m going to add finish.