Wood dowels are commonly used in the construction furniture, but little information is available about the additive effects of dowels on the ultimate withdrawal strength of single or multidowel joints. This study was carried out to determine the tensile strength of 10-mm-diameter dowels produced from medium-density fiberboard (MDF), plywood, scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and beech (Fagus orientalis lipsky), bonded parallel and vertical to the surface of MDF and particleboard (Pb) with poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) and Desmodur-VTKA (D-VTKA). Tensile strength was applied to the dowels according to the procedure in the ASTM-D 1037 standard. The effects of dowel species, direction of tensile, composite material, and type of adhesive on tensile strength were determined. The results showed that the highest tensile strength was obtained in beech dowels bonded vertically with PVAc adhesive to the surface of MDF at 7.91 N/mm(2). If the dowels used in furniture production are subjected to great tensile strength, beech dowels bonded with PVAc adhesive on MDF should be used. However, when dowels produced from MDF and plywood waste are used, they also can produce positive results. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.