Square Wood plugs/Caps

[George M. Perzel]

Does anyone know of a source for the square plug or caps which are used in mission/arts&crafts type furniture? They typically have a pyramid shaped head.
As an alternate, does anyone know a good method of making them quickly? Thanks
George M. Perzel

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's how I made a bunch. It uses two saws, for instance a chop saw and a bandsaw.

First make long sticks with the cross-section dimensions you want. Set the chop saw to the correct angle to make the facets. Use a stop at the non-cut end of the stick. Make four cuts to form the pyramid top. (You'll need to move the stop for each peg, so it helps if it moves and re-clamps without a lot of fussing.) Then take the stick to the bandsaw to cut the peg to length. I use a stop for the pointy end to touch, and a miter gauge to push the stock through the saw. (I prefer to use a bandsaw to cut off little things like this because it is less likely to throw the little things around than the table saw.) After you've cut that peg to length, go back to the chop saw, move its stop, cut four facets, go back to the band saw, cut to length, etc.

[Tom Hoffman]

George: I posted a similar question a while back. See the link below. I finally ended up cutting about a piece about 12" long and 3/8" x 3/8", put a 45 degree chamfer bit in the router table and used a miter guage to help guide it across the bit, turning it each pass until all four sides of the pyramid were made. I held the piece in place with a larger block of wood to keep my fingers away from the bit and help steady the piece. Then, after the end was chamfered, I cut it off the long piece with a japanese pull saw in a miter box to assure a 90 degree cut. It worked out fine. I suppose you could also do this on the band saw and table saw. I think ideally however for safety, it should be done with a disk sander, but I don't have one.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=13379