WOODWORKING QUIZ for 30 Nov 04

[Ralph Jones]

Good Morning Friends,
I had computer problems and was shut down a couple of days, but now am back up and running.

I like to use plugs to hide screws in my projects, but tediously sanding the plugs flush with the surface around them isn't on my list of fun things to do. Even when I saw the plugs off first, no matter how careful I am, the teeth of the saw often mar the workpiece, which means even more sanding.

How do you handle this situation?

Respectfully,

[Barry_White]

Ralph

When I do it I reduce the plug down to about 1/8" and then use a chisel held flat against the the work surface to finish it of to get it flush and then sanding is a breeze.

[Wood Borer]

You can get handsaws with teeth set on just one side for this very purpose.

I don't have one of those so sometimes I make a hole in a piece of thicker plastic. The hole goes over the plug and the plastic protects the face of the timber when you saw it.

I finish off with a very sharp block plane.

[craigb]

I have a Veritas flush cut saw that I use for this purpose.

Works very well and never mars the surface because, as Borer says, it only has teeth on one side.

[Bob Willson]

I chisel most of the timber away then I go over it with my trusty Veritas scraper plane that I sent my wife over to Canada to buy for me.

[journeyman Mick]

I've put thousands of the little buggers in and used to take them off with a raor sharp chisel. Then I discovered you can get a flexi blade Japanese pullsaw with no set on the teeth and two different tooth pitches. Works a treat! You can cut a plug off almost as fast as with a chisel but without the torn grain. Only problem is that I discovered it too late, I've only put a few hundred in since I got the saw!

Mick

[Ralph Jones]

Good Evening Friends,
I don't have the saw with the teeth on one side either but a fellow came up with a tip that I feel worth mentioning.

He placed a round sanding disk over the plug sticking through one of the holes in the disk and cut the plug off with his backless backsaw, then sanded the balance of the plug flush with the workpiece. He claimed it made it a lot easier to do with out the worry of marring the piece.

Thanks for your support.

Respectfully,