Dowel plug ?

[Bruce Russell]

Hi all, new to the forum. We just had a kitchen island made with reclaimed white oak boards. Really beautiful stuff, nail stains, dowel holes etc. from a 100 year old barn in Indiana, supposedly. Anyways the guy who did it used cheap dowel plugs from the orange place that looked terrible. When I asked him about it he said that's the way he's always done it and I'd get used to them. Ugh. He also just wiped on some paste wax and called it finished. Double ugh. So I got a tapered plug cutter, drill guide, cut plugs from an extra board he had luckily kept and drilled out the plugs. When I started putting them in I did one with the plug grain lined up with the board and one with it offset 90 deg. After looking at them for a while I went with offset ones. When the wife noticed she thought I was nuts. Sorry for the long post but my question is, does anyone else do this or am I nuts? This is just the island top by the way, the case and cabinets are all painted.

[Lee Schierer]

I can't speak to your mental condition, but the only time I use tapered plugs is when I want to hide a screw. If you carefully select the piece of wood for color and rain match you can make plugs almost disappear. Normally dowels used as pegs would show end grain not face grain.

Are you cutting end grain plugs from your matching board?

[Matt Day]

I don’t use them often, but when I do I either hide them (align them and try to match the grain) or have them random. Purposely putting them perpendicular to the grain probabaly isn’t something I’d do, but I’d have to see it.

[Bruce Russell]

I cut the plugs from the face grain. There was significant wear/weathering around the edges of where the dowels had been that was filled in with black Timbermate so hiding the plugs was not an option. Plus I paid a lot for this old beat up wood and wanted to show off the defects. I guess I'll have to rely on my wife for mental evaluations, but thanks for your reply. Oh, I should have mentioned this is just the island top, the case/cabinets are all painted.

[Bill Dufour]

Some folks would use contrasting wood like walnut or ebony. Theory is they will not be a perfect match so make them, so far apart it is obvious you did not try to match. Same general idea as the cross grain plugs you used.
Bill D

[Wayne Lomman]

Always parallel with the grain. It's the same principle as dressing slotted head screws so the slots all line up. It just looks like you made an effort to finish the job neatly. It will never fool anyone into thinking that the plugs aren't there, but they will look like they are meant to be. Cheers

[Bruce Russell]

Yea, the general consensus of the people I've had look at it is it looks odd. Oh well, drilling new plugs today. Luckily I have plenty of material. Thanks for the replies.

[Dave Richards]

How thick is the stock you're making the plugs from?

In addition to what Wayne mentioned regarding clocking screws, the more important reason for setting the grain in the plugs the same direction as the piece you're plugging is that over time the plugs will shrink across their grain. The board you're plugging will do the same, This winds up leaving you with elliptical plugs and gaps. If the plugs run the same direction as the board, you won't get the holes.

If it isn't too late, use an old boat builder's trick. Rip the plug stock just slightly wider than the plug diameter. Make the thickness of the stick just slightly more than the height of the plugs. Cut the plugs in this stick but don't break them free. You'll have something that looks like this. When installing the plugs, turn the stick so the plugs are down and dip the end one in glue or varnish. (Boat builders would varnish the plugs in over screws instead of gluing them in.) Start the plug into the hole aligning the stick with the grain on the board getting plugged. Whack the plug with a hammer to break it free and seat the plug. Repeat the process for each plug. This process makes it dead easy to get the grain direction right and it keeps the glue or varnish off your hands.

[Bruce Russell]

The stock I'm cutting the plugs from is the same as the island top - 2"X6-1/2"X7', so I have plenty to work with. Looks like a neat trick, but I'm not really a wood worker, just a homeowner with a cordless drill so I'm cutting them by hand. Using a Veritas snug-plug cutter so even if I wobble a little I still get a good taper. For gluing the guy at the Woodcraft I got the cutter from told me to fill one the holes from the plug with glue and dip the plugs in that. No gluey fingers!