Plug cutters

[David Ragan]

This question is very similar to the one about countersinks.....

Observe the picture please:

(I warned you all last week I am good with my camera now, and have a week off....)

DSCN0471.JPG

Left-this one, like the one on the right does better and runs cooler around 1K rpm--is it designed to automatically eject each plug, or am I doing something wrong?

Middle one wobbles terribly all over board if run slower (cause there are only two contact points with board?)

Right-just used it cause it came w the drill combo countersink set.

To look @ the plug, it looks like they cut a tapered, right?

Do you all cut a bunch, leave in the board, and then cover the ends with masking tape, then BS the strip, releasing the plugs?

[Jamie Buxton]

You are using a drill press aren't you?

I cut a whole bunch of them in wood that's thicker than the plug, so the plug stays attached to the board. Then I cover the entrance face of the board with masking tape, and resaw the board with my bandsaw to release the plugs. The masking tape face is away from the fence. The tape prevents the plugs from flying all over the place.

[Dave Richards]

David,

Good plug cutters do make tapered plugs. Don't make them very much longer than the holes are deep or they'll be too small to fill the hole.

Like Jamie, I cut the plugs in stock thicker than the length of plugs I need although it's only 1/16" or a little less thicker. I also cut the stock for the plugs so it is only slightly wider than the diameter of the plugs. Unlike Jamie, though, I don't cut them loose but instead, leave them on the stick. They look something like this sketch.


When I am ready to insert a plug, I dip the end plug in the "adhesive", offer it up to the hole making sure the grain of the plug and the grain around the hole are aligned and tap the plug into the hole with hammer or mallet. This breaks the plug loose from the stick and seats the plug all at once. It's a no-brainer thing to get the grain alignment correct, there's no fumbling with the plugs and I don't get my fingers sticky applying the adhesive. It also makes installing plugs very fast. I can't see why anyone would want to handle plugs individually when they can do it this way.

Most of the time I don't use glue on plugs. Instead I use varnish or whatever finish I am using on the project. This is an old boat builders' trick. It makes it easier to remove the plugs if they ever need removing and there's no glue line to resist stain or other finishes. Plugs are not structural elements and the varnish holds them in just fine. There are plugs over screws in the teak trim on my boat that have been there since 1980 when the boat was built. It's out in the elements 365 days a year and those plugs have never come out. Some of them need to because I want to redo the fiberglass under the teak.

Removing the plugs is a simple matter of driving in a screw until it bottoms out on the screw below. Then continue turning the screw to jack the plug out.

[Kent A Bathurst]

..... cover the entrance face of the board with masking tape...... The tape prevents the plugs from flying all over the place.

C'mon, Jamie - it's like playing shortstop. Where's the challenge? Sometimes you gotta make a play to your backhand.

I just run the stick through the BS with my right-hand fingers slightly outside the piece where the saw blade is. Keeps them on the table, if not in the hole.

Not like this is a precision-cutting operation.

[Jim Dwight]

If the wood grain cooperates, I often just put a little screwdriver beside the plug and split it out. That end won't be flat but I let it stick out of the hole so it gets sawed off anyway.

[joseph f merz]

i tend to like the first one ,or use that style the most .the first one can be used free hand so good for field work . the other two can be used in a handdrill also if you first drill a corresponding hole in a piece of scrap to use as a guide .clamp the guide stock securely to the board your taking the plug from and you can cut a smooth plug .lately though all of my plug cutters have been blowing plugs up .maybe they are getting dull . oh and not all wood types eject well ,or so it seems.

[Dan Hahr]

I have a cheap set of the first ones. I run it in till it bottoms out and the plug breaks off. Then I start again and it pushes the last one out. They pile up on the drill press table just fine although I may lose a few. If I need to shorten them I just trim them off with a chisel. I had a heck of a time until I realized that I needed to run them all the way in. I get nice clean plugs and can make a dozen in a minute or so.

Dan

[ian maybury]

Plug cutters may be another tool very like drill bits, countersinks, forstners and the like. There's a lot of cheapie junk ones about, and when it comes to getting clean cutting and good life between sharpenings there's no substitute for a decent set like say Famag.

Trouble is you may well end up paying more for a single cutter than a cheap set: https://www.fine-tools.com/zapfenschneider.html

[Barry McFadden]

This may be a crude practice...but I just stick a screwdriver blade down the hole beside the plug...give a little push and the plug breaks away.

[Jim Becker]

I use the tapered plug cutters and just snap them out of the board with a small flat-head screwdriver...and they are always used in the drill press. Never free-hand in a hand-held-drill.

[Lee Schierer]

If the wood grain cooperates, I often just put a little screwdriver beside the plug and split it out. That end won't be flat but I let it stick out of the hole so it gets sawed off anyway.

I only have used the type on the right in your photo and pop them out as needed with a screwdriver.

[joseph f merz]

Plug cutters may be another tool very like drill bits, countersinks, forstners and the like. There's a lot of cheapie junk ones about, and when it comes to getting clean cutting and good life between sharpenings there's no substitute for a decent set like say Famag.

Trouble is you may well end up paying more for a single cutter than a cheap set: https://www.fine-tools.com/zapfenschneider.html

wow these are not cheap .thinking maybe time to get a 3/8" one and see if it can cut better soft wood plugs .

[Mike Cogswell]

I only have used the type on the right in your photo and pop them out as needed with a screwdriver.

Same here. Cutter on the right used with a drill press. Pop them out with a screwdriver. Trim them flush with a LN small chisel plane.

[lowell holmes]

I have the Lee Valley plug cutters. I prefer them to others I've had. I think they are the pick of the litter.

[Curt Harms]

'nuther source that should be good quality. Amazon has 'em.

http://www.wlfuller.com/html/plug_cutters.html