Technical help required please :-)

[george4471]

Hi,

Since leaving school back in the early 1980's with very basic woodworking skills I've now taken on the challenge of creating a number of ledge and brace doors for our house. I've successfully completed a small door for our pantry using 12mm tongue and groove and intend using either the same or thicker wood for the other doors. What I'd like to do is hide the screwheads on the back of the door without filling them with filler. Ideally I like to put some dowel in to neaten it up.

What I'd like to know is what tool do I need to enable me to drill the smaller hole for the screw (normal 25mm wood screw) but make it wide enough for me to tap in a piece of dowel ? Is it as simple as drilling the smaller hole first with a 4mm bit then using a wider bit afterwards - ensuring I don't go all the way through the wood !!!

Look forward to hearing from the experts !

regards

martin

 

[RobinBHM]

I would get side grain wood pellets from plugitdowel.co.uk

If you use a brad point drill bit first for the plug then change to a shank hole size drill bit for the screw it should work fine. A crude depth stop is a block of wood that hits the drill chuck once you get to depth. Or just practice and do it by eye, or good old masking tape.

 

[brihol]

If you think you might use these fairly often it might be worth getting a set of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TREND-SNAPPY- ... 5b01288de6
Brian

 

[george4471]

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply. I shall try your suggestions. I have plenty of scrap wood to try on so fingers crossed I'll have it sorted before I start the doors for real !


regards

martin

 

[Ian down london way]

If you want the plugs near invisible, then you can get plug cutters. I bought a set of three in a pack, 6/8/10mm. You have to use them in a drill stand though. Here is an example:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-8780...id=1414673177&sr=8-2&keywords=plug+cutter+set

 

[AndyT]

As far as I know, the usual method for making ledged and braced doors is to use nails, not screws.
Nails are not always an inferior sort of fixing! In this case they have three advantages:
- speed of construction (ok, this may not matter to you);
- enough 'give' to cope with seasonal variation in the breadth of the boards without splitting them;
- heads that can be punched down below the surface so they can be filled much more unobtrusively than screws.

 

[george4471]

Hi Andy,

Never thought of using nails. I assume just normal nails would suffice ?


regards

martin

 

[AndyT]

Yes, as long as they are in scale with the wood you are using. Choose ovals or 'lost head' nails, not the ones with a big flat head designed to stay on the surface.
To be properly traditional - and for max strength - they were punched through and clenched round back into the wood on the other side, but that might be overkill for a small cupboard door.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Oddly, too, nails with blunt heads split the wood less than nails with a point. Or so we're told.

I believe that's why floorboard 'cut' nais are as they are, rather than the shape of 'wire' nails (oval or round). The idea is that they slice the wood fibres as they go in, rather than just pushing them aside.