How to quickly make proud Diamond square pegs

[Brent Ring]

All,

I am looking for some ideas on how to quickly make 20 sqaure pegs for some shaker-style cabinet doors. 1 in each corner - exposed part hass to be about 1/2" square. Pegs don't have to pass thru them.

Any quick ideas. Tried the chisel method, but my skills are not there yet! :)

[George Bregar]

All,

I am looking for some ideas on how to quickly make 20 sqaure pegs for some shaker-style cabinet doors. 1 in each corner - exposed part hass to be about 1/2" square. Pegs don't have to pass thru them.

Any quick ideas. Tried the chisel method, but my skills are not there yet! :) Not 100% sure what you're wanting...just a square peg to pin a M&T? Here is what I did for a MC I'm building...used a Performax to square thin stock to 3/8x 3/8. I used my mortiser for the "holes". I beveled the top with a file prior to pounding them in with a mallet to a block. If you are wanting to "point" the other end to get the square peg in a round hole, a file would also do that if you don't want to use a chisel. You can also use a box cutter of knife and whittle them.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Pegs don't have to pass through the square pegs? What do you mean?

If you can tolerate a smaller square, a tip from Chris Swartz is in order: use chopsticks.

Pam

[George Bregar]

Pegs don't have to pass through the square pegs? What do you mean?

If you can tolerate a smaller square, a tip from Chris Swartz is in order: use chopsticks.

Pam Ithink hemeant that the pegs will not go through the doors and he wants to point them...you know, the Shaker square peg round hole thing. The peg must be pointed at the tip to get it into the round hole.

I think...

[Jamie Buxton]

I've done this by making a long stick the cross-section you want -- 1/2" by 1/2" in your case. With a table saw and the miter gauge, cut the four facets on the end. You can eyeball the cuts if you like, or build a little jig which holds the end of the stick in the right place. If you want a shiny surface, sand the facets. Then cut off the peg. Cut it off with a handsaw or a bandsaw, so as to not disturb the setup on the tablesaw. Repeat until you have enough pegs.

[Brent Ring]

I will try the Table Saw method and let you know the results

Thanks

[Brent Ring]

So far so good - The combination of the table saw for the facets, the miter saw to cut them to length, and the bandsaw to remove some of the junk material at the bottom has proven to work - the real question not is whether to round the remaing square peg and just drill the holes, or drill the holes and then square them up and put the pegs in. I am think of rounding the pegs at this point.

Pictures of the final coming later....

[Chris Padilla]

Well it's been like 2 hours...where's the pix?! :mad:

;) :D

[Brent Ring]

Chris,

Apologies. I cheat a bit and review this at work, and play with wood at home. I won't be able to get the pics up until late tonight. But I will put them up as they are and when they are finished as well, probably at the end of the week.

Sorry!

[Brent Ring]

Here is a picture of the plugs and how I have made them so far:

1. Cut a piece of 1/2" square walnut stock - length should be at least 12" -14"
2. Put an auxillary fence on your miter guide for your table saw
3. Set the angle of the blade to 19 degrees and set the blade to about 3/8" of an inch high
4. Cut each part of the facet by rotating it and cutting each side
5. Then I took the piece over to my miter saw and CAREFULLY cut the plug to length.
6. I now have one plug roughed out
7. I then took the 1/2" stock back to the table saw and repeated the procedure.
8. I then set the table saw blade back to 0 degrees, and set the depth, so that only 1/16" of the blade was exposed. I moved down from the facets a kerf width, and cut the plugs to get the proud part, rotating to each side.
9. I then took them to the band saw, and set the fence about a 1/16" away, and cut the side off to get the results you now see.

In both the table saw, and band saw cases a zero-clearance insert was necessary.

I have a roughly 3/8" square plug left. Now trying to decide whether or not to round the edges and just drill the holes in the doors or to drill the doors and square up the holes, and THEN glue the plugs in. I wil let you know what i do.

This is a bit scary on the band saw, but the depths of the table saw blade cutting the facets and exposing the proud parts were pretty safe.

Hope this helps

[George Bregar]

Here is a picture of the plugs and how I have made them so far:

1. Cut a piece of 1/2" square walnut stock - length should be at least 12" -14"
2. Put an auxillary fence on your miter guide for your table saw
3. Set the angle of the blade to 19 degrees and set the blade to about 3/8" of an inch high
4. Cut each part of the facet by rotating it and cutting each side
5. Then I took the piece over to my miter saw and CAREFULLY cut the plug to length.
6. I now have one plug roughed out
7. I then took the 1/2" stock back to the table saw and repeated the procedure.
8. I then set the table saw blade back to 0 degrees, and set the depth, so that only 1/16" of the blade was exposed. I moved down from the facets a kerf width, and cut the plugs to get the proud part, rotating to each side.
9. I then took them to the band saw, and set the fence about a 1/16" away, and cut the side off to get the results you now see.

In both the table saw, and band saw cases a zero-clearance insert was necessary.

I have a roughly 3/8" square plug left. Now trying to decide whether or not to round the edges and just drill the holes in the doors or to drill the doors and square up the holes, and THEN glue the plugs in. I wil let you know what i do.

This is a bit scary on the band saw, but the depths of the table saw blade cutting the facets and exposing the proud parts were pretty safe.

Hope this helps Next time:

From long 1/2" Sq stock:

1) Cut the facets. Just set the angle you want, set a stop block, and raise the blade to through cut. The facets will be formed.

2) Cut a dado around the stock below the facets to reduce to 3/8 sq

3) Cut to length

Easy, and safe

[Bruce Page]

I made a couple dozen of these out of ironwood. They weren’t quick nor easy…at least not for me. :o

[Jamie Buxton]

Wow. It never even occurred to me to make a flange around the top. That makes it much more complicated to make. I just make the mortises with a hollow-chisel mortiser, and make the pegs a fairly tight fit. With a wipe of glue in the mortise, push the peg in until it is correct proudness. Don't push it in too far, because you'll have to destroy it to pull it back out.