Plug cutting - how do you do this ?!

[EdK]

I have just bought a 12mm plug cutter as I need to cut some plugs from ash... I have no idea how to use it !
Silly newbie question really but I have tried it in a drill and some soft wood but am guessing this is not the correct way as it skits around alot.
I thought about putting it in a router but the shank is not 1/2". I guess I could tryit in a 1/4" collar ?

Do I need to track down a pillar drill or is there some arcane black art to this
#
Confused and feeling silly !
Ed

 

[jasonB]

If you don't have a drill press which is the easiest way to use them you need to make a guide to stop the bit skidding about.

This can simply be a scrap of ply or MDF with a hole drilled in it to match the outside diameter of the plug cutter, clamp this to your wood and drill away

Jason

 

[p111dom]

Drill press is the way to go I'm afraid. If you're not going to use this construction method all the time it could worth just buying pre cut plugs. It's cheaper than a drill press. That said if you bought one you would use it quite a bit. Aldi often sell a cheap small one for around £35. Check the deal page one their website once a week and I'm sure it will come up again sooner or later.

 

[OPJ]

This may be irrelevant to you but, I've found that some dirt cheap plug cutters don't actually cut to the sizes they are labeled to. I think my "16mm" cutter was actually cutting 15mm plugs, for example.

It's always worth checking, just in case. Don't ever try to mix metric with imperial cutters as it won't work (DAMHIKT)...

 

[Smudger]

If you try using a router, make sure you have got fire insurance.

DAMHIKT.

 

[Mr T]

Hi
If you take p111dom's solution, look at Plugit's website www.plugit.com They have a large se...cept very small orders! Very obliging people.

 

[steve tighe]

Or you could just phone this crowd up... http://www.cherrywoodworkers.co.uk/

...costs up to a fiver for a box of 100 pellets plus postage.They're trade.

 

[joiner_sim]

If anyone is in the Birmingham area and wants plugs cut........ I can supply easily as I have the pillar drill and the spare timber! Just a small cost.

 

[BradNaylor]

Or you could just phone this crowd up... http://www.cherrywoodworkers.co.uk/

...costs up to a fiver for a box of 100 pellets plus postage.They're trade.

Thanks for that Steve, I'm going to make contact with them today and order some of those up.

Not sure that there's a 'crowd' of them working in that shed though!

 

[EdK]

Ah the mystery is resolved ! I only need 4 x 12mm ones for a newel post so will have a go at badgering a friend to use his pillar drill...
THanks
Ed

 

[steve tighe]

Not sure that there's a 'crowd' of them working in that shed though!

They're a strange bunch in there Dan,anyone who's content to spend their working day turning pellets on a lathe...

 

[Smudger]

I've used those tapered pegs, and they are OK, but not completely useful for mm sizes. IIRC. Also the choice of woods is a bit hit and miss.

 

[joiner_sim]

I used to have a tapered plug cutter but just dit not like it at all....... im back to just cutting plugs with a 13mm plug cutter and using a 12mm flat bit for a nice tight fit.

 

[SketchUp Guru]

If you're cutting plugs, make your life easy. Use a pillar drill, cut strips of wood slightly wider than the plugs and a little thicker than the length of the desired plug. Set the drill stop so the cutter leaves a couple of mm of wood. Don't cut throughto the table. Set a fence to guide the work so the plugs will be centered on the stock.

Cut a series of plugs overlapping the voids but don't cut into the previous plug. When you finish, you should have a slighly floppy strip with a line of plugs on it. Leave the plugs on the strip.

To plug the holes, align the strip with the grain and insert the plug into the hole. drive it in and break it free from the strip with a whack from a hammer of mallet. The rest of the strip is a handle and makes grain alignment easy.

Don't glue in the plugs. Seat them with laquer or varnish or whatever you're using as finish. You get no glue line so no problem with the finish taking and if you ever need to remove the plug, you can get it out by driving a wood screw into it until it hits the screw below. Then keep turning and jack the plug out like it is a cork in a wine bottle. Since a plug is not a structural thing, the varnish or laquer will hold it just fine.

Make sure when you install the plugs the grain is aligned. Otherwise the plug will dry out a bit oval and open up a gap in the seam.

 

[EdK]

Oh dear ! THanks Dave R - I pretty much did the exact opposite to what you suggested ! Doh - anyway I borrowed a mates drill press collar but it didn't fit the drill.
So instead I cut a hole in 19mm ply that fitted the outer diameter of the plug cutter and cut them like that.
i thought the grain at 90 degrees would look nice and glued them in with about 5mm exposed. I guess you live and learn Looks like I have alot of cutting then paring to do... and I guess they'll dry out and gap up - or will the glue stop that ?
No chance of taking them out - in the stair newel on the top tread area.
Was planning on screwing and plugging the top tread to the stair header in about 3 or 4 places so will bear these comments in mind and hopefully follow 'protocol' next time
Thanks - I'm here to learn - Ed