Expert: Jamie Yocono - 3/4/2006

Question
i have been doing a little woodworking off and on over the years but mostly with ultra simplistic projects.  i am now retired and hope to spend more time in the shop and hopefully elevate my skill level.  i am set to complete my first furniture project-a table.  i countersunk the drill holes and inserted dowel plugs.  my question is how do i cut off the excess cleanley without risking damaging the
surface?  thanks for any help

Answer
Hi Charles,

Good question about how to trim off excess wood on plugs. This turned into a long answer, so grab a cup of coffee and put your feet up.

I taught woodworking for years, and it's one of the basic questions I used to cover in class. There are some good ways, and certainly some bad ways to do it. Trust me, I've seen everything!

There are many ways to accomplish this, but my first choice for trimming plugs is with a sharp chisel. Once you get good at it, you can trim 20 plugs in no time. But there is a trick to it.

The thing you want to accomplish is to make the plug flush with the surface, and NOT break it off below the surface of the wood. I always try to align the plug grain so that it's oriented in the same direction as the surface grain. Years ago, I read an article about this that was illustrated with pictures of what happens when you place the plug grain at 90 degrees to the table top grain. The wood changes (shrinks or swells) differently across the grain as it does end to end, and you can end up with gaps in your plug holes. So always try to align your grains the same way.

That said- I'm going to answer something that you didn't even ask- and that is about the plug material itself. If you cut your own plugs, you probably are doing it out of thin material and cutting plugs that are roughly 1/2" long. Man, I have small hands and I can barely handle those small pieces, so I know people with big hands can barely do it. So you're going to need a set of tenon cutters- not plug cutters, which only allow you to cut short plugs, but tenon cutters which will allow you to cut 2-3" plugs, or mini dowels. You can buy a set of these tenon cutters for about $50, and they're worth every penny. The set of five consists of all the sizes you will ever need- 1", 3/4", 5/8", 1/2" and 3/8". So you've got all your bases covered. If you do a lot of woodworking, these cutters should be your next purchase.

My first tip is to save small scraps of wood from the project you are building, a piece about 2" wide will be fine. Turn that piece on edge, and using your tenon cutters, cut a long plug- not quite 2" long. If you drill all the way thru, your plug will break off and get stuck in the cutter. So drill almost to the end and then stop. It's easy to break the dowel off, and viola~ you have a long dowel, MUCH easier to handle. And one of these dowels will make several plugs, so if you only have 2-4 holes to plug, one of these will do the trick for you.

OK, to the trimming part- you will need a sharp chisel, preferably wider than the plug you are trimming. So if your plug is a 1/2", you need a 3/4" chisel, or wider.  The real key is to "test" the grain of the plug, so when you make your first cut (just a gently tap, really) with a chisel, you're checking to see which way the grain is running. Make this tap with the chisel bevel down, so the wood will tend to break off going up. If you're lucky, the grain is straight and it breaks off straight, parallel with the surface of the surrounding wood. If it breaks off at a sharp angle, pay attention to which way the grain is breaking, and then pare the plug from the low side. That way, when you trim the wood away, you will not break the plug off below the surface. Make VERY small cuts, until the plus is just barely "proud" (raised above) the surface. When you have it almost level, turn your chisel to the flat side (bevel side up) and make that last small trim with the flat side of the chisel, making the plug completely flush.

OK, that's how a true craftsman does it.

Now that's not to say there aren't better ways- some people use a belt sander and sand the plugs flush. That seems a little harsh to me. I've even seem some people use a pad sander, which is insane. All it really does is round over the top of the plug, but doesn't really make it flush. Not to mention that it drives the glue into the pores of the wood. So a chisel is the way to go.

But here's my last tip- sorry I've gone on so long, but I've literally seen hundreds of my students do this wrong, so I'm versed in how to do it right.

So if you have a lot of plugs to trim, like a LOT, you can use a router with a straight cutter in it. Set the height of the bit flush with the base of the router, or just a hair higher than the base. And then use the router to trim off the excess plug material. This works well on large flat surfaces off wood, and you'll have to go back and just clean each plug area up a tiny bit with your chisel.... but by now, you should be like a surgeon with that chisel. So it shouldn't be any problem.

Good luck, I hope this helps. Feel free to write back with any other questions you might have after reading this.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
www.wooditis.com
Las Vegas, NV