Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Replace a broken flat-pack dowel by matching the stub

Updated: 22 October 2026

A chair, a cabinet or a door has a wooden pin that has snapped or gone loose, and you are matching the stub rather than designing a new joint. Replace a broken flat-pack dowel by identifying the remnant first. A cam bolt, a metal push-fit pin and a hinge-hole insert are different spares. The ten GBP prices are on the [heavy duty dowels comparison](/hub/screws-and-accessories/heavy-duty-dowels). Peter F., DIY & tools editor, used public UK repair notes and those listings. No joint was tested in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

A chair, a cabinet or a door has a wooden pin that has snapped or gone loose, and you are matching the stub rather than designing a new joint. Replace a broken flat-pack dowel by identifying the remnant first.

Our top picks

ZEONHAK ZEONHAK 1,000 pins, 8 × 40 mm

Best overall

ZEONHAK ZEONHAK 1,000 pins, 8 × 40 mm
7.9/10about £15.99
View offer
PanBeiQi PanBeiQi 90 mixed wooden pins

Rank 2

PanBeiQi PanBeiQi 90 mixed wooden pins
9.0/10about £4.49
View offer
ShiFaKa ShiFaKa 225 mixed wooden pins

Alternative

ShiFaKa ShiFaKa 225 mixed wooden pins
7.7/10about £7.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Wooden pin, cam, or hinge screw
  2. 2.Measure, then pick a listed size
  3. 3.Drill the stub out and glue the new pin
  4. 4.When the board is the problem

Wooden pin, cam, or hinge screw

A wooden dowel is a short fluted peg with no thread. A cam bolt is metal. Emflatpack and MissingScrew list them separately, and a cam bolt at 17 mm, 24 mm or 34 mm screws into the round cam in the board face. A wooden pin in that hole will not lock. When a hinge screw spins in stripped chipboard, UK Workshop points at a plug or an insert, not a screw driven into the end of a dowel. InnoHHustle is 50 polypropylene sleeves, 8.5 × 9.6 mm, at about £5.29, and it is the wrong spare for a wooden stub. Steel locators are for boards you will open, on the wooden dowel or steel alignment pin page.

Measure, then pick a listed size

Measure the stub and any hole you can still see. An 8 mm hole in 18 mm board is usual, not a rule on every packet. Vincent Neave’s notes on older British chairs include 6 mm, 8 mm and 10 mm. A 10 mm hole in a thin edge can blow the face. If one joint is intact, measure that hole. Yukesaky, Cyiamku and Xatgiouy are 300 of 6 × 30 mm. ZEONHAK is 1,000 of 8 × 40 mm at about £15.99. PanBeiQi is 90 pins at about £4.49 in three diameters, split not stated. ShiFaKa at about £7.99 prints 70 of 6 × 30 mm and 15 of 8 × 40 mm. Buy one size when every stub matches. The stronger sample is on the best wooden dowel pins page.
ZEONHAK ZEONHAK 1,000 pins, 8 × 40 mm

Testsieger

ZEONHAK ZEONHAK 1,000 pins, 8 × 40 mm
7.9/10about £15.99
View offer

Drill the stub out and glue the new pin

If the stub stands proud, twist it out. If it is flush, centre a brad-point bit of the original diameter, often 8 mm, with a depth stop, and vacuum the dust. Mark the stop from the spurs, not the tip. Cut the new pin about 5 mm shorter than the two hole depths added together, Vincent Neave’s allowance so it cannot bottom out. Dry-fit it: finger pressure, and the faces able to meet. Then use a film of D2 or D3 PVA on the wall of the hole. None of these packs includes glue. If the pin rattles, glue will not take up half a millimetre. Two UK reviews of PanBeiQi describe about 0.5 mm undersize. If a pin snaps, stop. A new-hole layout is on the how to fit a fluted dowel pin page.

When the board is the problem

A round hole with a sound wall is a pin job. An oval hole needs a glued plug, then a new hole on the original centre. A wobbly chair is no longer a pin job when the rail is split or the chipboard has crushed to dust. That is a joiner, or a spare from the maker. If a pack is not the size the title stated, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the route.

Common questions

How do I tell a wooden dowel from a cam bolt?
A wooden dowel is a short peg, usually fluted, with no thread and no head. A cam bolt is metal and threaded, and it engages the round cam in the face of the board. Catalogues list them separately, often at 17 mm, 24 mm or 34 mm. A wooden pin in a cam hole will not lock. If you can see a metal drum, order the cam fitting.
What do I measure on the broken stub?
Measure the diameter of the sound part of the stub, and the depth of the hole that is still empty. If another joint is intact, measure that hole instead of the splinter. An 18 mm board cannot take a deep hole in the face. Write the numbers down before you open a single-size box. An oval or crushed stub needs the board repaired before a new pin will hold.
How do I get a flush stub out without ovalising the hole?
Centre a brad-point bit of the intact hole’s diameter on the stub and drill with a depth stop. Vacuum the dust. The aim is to remove wood, not to oval the hole. If the bit wanders, stop and plug the damage rather than chasing it with a larger bit. A stub that still stands proud can be gripped and twisted out before you drill.
Which pack matches 6 mm, and which matches 8 mm?
Yukesaky, Cyiamku and Xatgiouy each state 300 pins of 6 × 30 mm. ZEONHAK states 1,000 pins of 8 × 40 mm at about £15.99. PanBeiQi at about £4.49 states both, plus 10 × 40 mm, without a count per size. ShiFaKa at about £7.99 prints 70 of 6 × 30 mm and 15 of 8 × 40 mm. One UK review says the Xatgiouy pins break very easily.
Is a plastic hinge insert the repair for a snapped wooden pin?
No. InnoHHustle is a polypropylene sleeve, 8.5 × 9.6 mm, for a stripped hinge screw, at about £5.29. A snapped wooden stub needs a wooden pin of the diameter you measured. UK Workshop threads warn against driving a hinge screw into the end of a dowel, because the end grain does not hold the thread. Use the sleeve on the hinge hole.

Related pages

Wooden dowel pins buying guide

Heavy duty dowels

Best wooden dowel pins UK: which pack to open first

How to fit a fluted dowel pin: bit, depth and glue

Wooden dowel or steel alignment pin: which pin to fit

Sources

Public UK sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the ten amazon.co.uk listings. BS EN 204 classes the glue, not the pin. A listing claim is not a laboratory result.

  1. Wonkee Donkee — drilling a hole for a dowel (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. Furnica — installing 8 mm wooden dowels (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. BSI BS EN 204:2016 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Ureka — D1, D2, D3 and D4 wood adhesives (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. SCF Hardware — wooden beech dowels (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Station Road Baseboards — alignment dowels (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. UK Workshop — cabinet hinge repair (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 22 October 2026)