Plug Cutter...
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:23 pmWhat's the prefered choice... Straight or Tapered? 
For me neither. If need to plug stuff I buy pre-made plug or just pieces of dowel & cut them up on the band saw.
Jeremy
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Plug Cutter...
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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:23 pmPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:47 pmPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:06 pmI've been using tapered, but I have no idea why. They work great though...
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:41 pmTapered plugs will fill the hole without a gap. Dowels are often undersized and out of round. Commercial plugs generally are made to stand proud of the hole. So for me, it's a tapered plug.
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:43 amX3 for the tapered. As long as your counterbore is deep enough you can tap the tapered plug in with a finish hammer and the fit will be absolutely tight.
I'm using ebony accent plugs on cherry and the fit is perfect.
Eric
I'm using ebony accent plugs on cherry and the fit is perfect.
Eric
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:44 amTapered. Fills the hole with no visible gaps. Use a flush cut saw to remove the material standing proud of the surface.
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:09 amTapered.
Preferrably of the same or similar density wood, with the grain of the plug oriented the same as the plugged piece.
The tight fit of the taper compresses the wood of both the plug, and the plugged piece, so when the piece expands and contacts, the plug doesn't show a visible gap.
Both types, straight and tapered are glued in.
Either will do the job and done correctly won't "come loose", though straight has a greater chance of failing.
Since wood expands much more across the grain, the edges of either style make, and maintain good glue contact on two sides, the length of the grain.
It is the other two sides, the width of the grain, that present the potential for expanding beyond what the plug can maintain.
By using tapered, you compress the grain across the width, allowing more potential for expansion without visible results.
There are other methods that use green wood and dry dowels to "lock" the parts together.
That is starting to get away from the basic plug the hole concept, though the results are similar, the parts compress around the pin or plug.
Rob
Preferrably of the same or similar density wood, with the grain of the plug oriented the same as the plugged piece.
The tight fit of the taper compresses the wood of both the plug, and the plugged piece, so when the piece expands and contacts, the plug doesn't show a visible gap.
Both types, straight and tapered are glued in.
Either will do the job and done correctly won't "come loose", though straight has a greater chance of failing.
Since wood expands much more across the grain, the edges of either style make, and maintain good glue contact on two sides, the length of the grain.
It is the other two sides, the width of the grain, that present the potential for expanding beyond what the plug can maintain.
By using tapered, you compress the grain across the width, allowing more potential for expansion without visible results.
There are other methods that use green wood and dry dowels to "lock" the parts together.
That is starting to get away from the basic plug the hole concept, though the results are similar, the parts compress around the pin or plug.
Rob