square pegs, or round plugs - how do i make it look clean?

[Leo Zick]

so, i am making a plant stand and want to use square pegs or round plugs as a means of joinery. i have some ideas on the design, but am not sure how to get a good clean look.

i have 3/4" square ebony pieces. if i use my planer or router i can get them down to 5/8 or 1/2". thats not too tough.. but, i cant figure out how to get matching holes.

on a test piece, i tried cutting a round hole, then chiseling it square, but its not clean looking at all. maybe the wrong chisel? im using a standard 1/2" chisel. i think it may be too thick.

so, my options:
1. making a round hole would be simple enough, but how do i get my square pegs round? im using 2 hard woods - ebony pegs, and curly hard maple legs. so, brute force i think will just crack the wood.

2. i set the peg proud, with an edge around the hole, with some sort of pattern on the front? this will hide flaws, but the problem here is that i cant figure out how to remove stock from some of the piece. to leave me with a lip, and then create a pattern on the face of the plug. i guess some careful cuts with a tablesaw will give me a diamond pattern.

man i have the ideas and love what you guys do so i try to copy, but cant figure out how to execute. frustrating! :)

thanks for the help..

[Daniel Winsor]

You can make round dowels from square pegs by running them through successively smaller holes drilled into 1/4" steel. When drilling the holes in the steel, chamfering the underside of every hole will make it easier to run the pegs through. If you want to make a 1/4" peg then I'd run them through all the holes ending on 5/16" and then chuck the peg in a drill press and sand it to final thickness. This way you'll get it relatively round and smooth. I'm assuming you don't have a lathe otherwise you'd probably be making the pegs already instead of asking about it.

[David DeCristoforo]

What you need is a square chisel like you use in hollow chisel morticers.

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

Remove most of the material with your drill, position the square chisel over the hole and tap away with a mallet. You will get a perfectly square cut. You may have to do some clean out with straight chisels but the whole process is pretty easy this way.

[Joe Scharle]

What David said, but I'm lazier! Push a dowel in the hole, wrap tape around the dowel until an old mortising chisel fits snuggly. Whack with a hammer, pull the chisel straight out. Most of the time, everything will come out with it.

[Leo Zick]

great trick! ill order some mortising chisels from grizzly. they seem to be the best price. i hope the drill bits come out though!

whats the dowel and tape for? i dont follow..

[Barry Vabeach]

Leo, Another approach, you can use a hand chisel to make a square hole, make it just slightly ( 1/32 to 1/64 ) smaller than the square stock, then cut the square stock to length and trim it slightly so it has a taper, then insert the tapered end and drive it home. The wood fibers will compress and it should look perfect. Barry

[Joe Scharle]

great trick! ill order some mortising chisels from grizzly. they seem to be the best price. i hope the drill bits come out though!

whats the dowel and tape for? i dont follow..

Getting the 'square' to cut centered by eye, is hit/miss. Building up the dowel until it's snug in the inside of the chisel centers the cut. Good luck, Joe

[David DeCristoforo]

"...and trim it slightly so it has a taper..."

This is a good idea even with the "square chisel" method.