Shelf Pin Holes (when to drill)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

I was wondering about maybe some tinted shellac and a Qtip or something like that.

A tblspoon of instant coffee with a few drops of water & a Q-tip works like a champ.
On white woods it produces a very warm rich "walnut" brown.

(side - The "pros" I used to do business with way back when (~ 35/40 years ago) would just siphon off some coffee out of thier thermos and use that. LOL! 'Course most of them drank Hungarian or Slovak coffee!<- half coffee/half Slivowitz )

[Mark Rakestraw]

Not to hijack but I'm curious what people do when drilling these through plywood that has a darker veneer, for example walnut. I'm helping a friend with his project and after drilling the holes through the walnut ply, you can really see the holes stand out because the plywood core is so much lighter than the walnut. I was wondering about maybe some tinted shellac and a Qtip or something like that.

The other way to handle that would be to use the shelf pin inserts referenced above.
Mark

[Don Morris]

I have the Rockler system with template and last month still got tearout with their Brad point drill on Furniture grade Maple plywood. Next time I thought I would use tape and drill through it. Was glad to see someone else suggest that. I too would rather do it first then finish. I don't want to mar the finish because I know I would. I do like the idea of less holes and will discuss this with LOML as everything must pass her "approval of design".

[Bill Neely]

Woodhaven sells self centering bits for shelf pin jigs - both 1/4" and 5mm. The bits have a 3/8" diameter nose and a very sharp brad point bit. This bit works well if you are drilling holes after assembly.