Wood plug instructions

[David H. Gaedeke]

I'm a new jig owner. Kreg offers no advice or dvd help with the correct way to install and finish/sand the plugs. Can anyone help?

[Kerry Drake]

You slide them into the pocket hole with with angled side OUT and turned so it is parrallel to the face of the surface the hole went into. The plug WILL NOT sit flush, you will need to trim it flush with the workpiece. A flush cut saw works OK if you put some blue painters tape down so you do not end up scratching the workpiece.

And, oh yea, don't forget the glue!

[Pete Ticknor]

Or you can trim the large end with a bandsaw or hacksaw, hold the plug with a pair of vise grips. you may have totry a couple of times to get the right length. After they are glued in you will not have a lot of sanding. I have done this on the chairs I made for the church.

[Jerry Lee]

I have a very easy and quick way of the installing and sanding of the plugs. I will list photo's soon,but for now what I do is buy the kreg plugs the closest to match my project.Then I take a scrap piece of hardwood the harder the better and drill a pocket hole in it with my kreg jig, then I place the plug in the hole that I made in the hardwood and using a belt sander with 220 grit paper I sand the plug down almost flush to the hardwood and remove it using a awl or knife point to pull it out.(Note always sand against the direction the plug goes in or it might pull out while sanding).Then pour wood glue in your real pocket hole and put some on the plug with your finger also,slide it in, clean up excess glue with wet rag, and then finish sanding it which is very minimal. I had the same problem as do many others,its like to much work trying to sand the whole thing down with it full size.Try it you will Love it. Thank's

[Jens Jensen]

That lasst reply was just about what I do .Watch my video

Kerry Drake said:

You slide them into the pocket hole with with angled side OUT and turned so it is parrallel to the face of the surface the hole went into. The plug WILL NOT sit flush, you will need to trim it flush with the workpiece. A flush cut saw works OK if you put some blue painters tape down so you do not end up scratching the workpiece.

And, oh yea, don't forget the glue!

[Jerry Lee]

I was refering the the question ask as using kreg plugs.But I think you should try your belt sander 1 time it does a really nice job with or without dowel rods.When I said use a piece of hardwood thats so you don't have to change out the board every 20 sandings.But I like your Idea also.Thanks

Jens Jensen said:

That lasst reply was just about what I do .Watch my video

Kerry Drake said:

You slide them into the pocket hole with with angled side OUT and turned so it is parrallel to the face of the surface the hole went into. The plug WILL NOT sit flush, you will need to trim it flush with the workpiece. A flush cut saw works OK if you put some blue painters tape down so you do not end up scratching the workpiece.

And, oh yea, don't forget the glue!

[Kurt F]

One idea that I plan to try is making a trimming jig - drilling a whole bunch of holes (intended for 3/4" joinery) in a piece of stock, like a short 2x4, or a piece of 1x12 - and then setting up a straight bit on the router so I can run it from one end of the other and trim a series of plugs all at once. I will probably drill the jig holes just slightly deeper so that I will not run the risk of the plugs being too short in the pocket holes on the actual project pieces being joined together.

This would allow me the flexibility of not having to fit a tool into small spaces where the joinery exists, and instead I'll have plugs that will have been pre-trimmed to length and will require only a little bit of sanding to get them completely flush with the finished work surface.

[Ed Rarick]

I did this and drilled 6 pocket holes close enough together to use a ROS to sand down all 4 at once.  It worked great.  Thanks for the idea.

Jerry Lee said:

I have a very easy and quick way of the installing and sanding of the plugs. I will list photo's soon,but for now what I do is buy the kreg plugs the closest to match my project.Then I take a scrap piece of hardwood the harder the better and drill a pocket hole in it with my kreg jig, then I place the plug in the hole that I made in the hardwood and using a belt sander with 220 grit paper I sand the plug down almost flush to the hardwood and remove it using a awl or knife point to pull it out.(Note always sand against the direction the plug goes in or it might pull out while sanding).Then pour wood glue in your real pocket hole and put some on the plug with your finger also,slide it in, clean up excess glue with wet rag, and then finish sanding it which is very minimal. I had the same problem as do many others,its like to much work trying to sand the whole thing down with it full size.Try it you will Love it. Thank's

[Nick Grillo]

New to the community and thanks for the tip. Doing that tomorrow. 

Nick

Jerry Lee said:

I have a very easy and quick way of the installing and sanding of the plugs. I will list photo's soon,but for now what I do is buy the kreg plugs the closest to match my project.Then I take a scrap piece of hardwood the harder the better and drill a pocket hole in it with my kreg jig, then I place the plug in the hole that I made in the hardwood and using a belt sander with 220 grit paper I sand the plug down almost flush to the hardwood and remove it using a awl or knife point to pull it out.(Note always sand against the direction the plug goes in or it might pull out while sanding).Then pour wood glue in your real pocket hole and put some on the plug with your finger also,slide it in, clean up excess glue with wet rag, and then finish sanding it which is very minimal. I had the same problem as do many others,its like to much work trying to sand the whole thing down with it full size.Try it you will Love it. Thank's

[Stanley Fleener Jr]

Jerry Lee, this is a great tip.  I just did this with 24 plugs using maple scrap, quick and easy, then inserted in pine table...all flush with minimal finish sanding needed.  Thanks for sharing.

[Joshua Russell]

I use a oslicatiing multi-tool. The trick is to come at it the same way you drilled the pocket hole. This way the blade will get caught and will not lift up and you will not have to dig down to start the cut. 

Maybe 4 seconds to cut down a plug flush. Then just a little finish sanding. 

Here is a link to an example. His problem though is he is coming at it from the side. Slips off a few times and looks like he is marking up the cabinet while its cutting. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8FJxs48wBg

[Ken Darga]

Thanks for the tip, Josh.

Some of those osci blades have a slight tooth set.

The tooth set will scratch the work-piece surface.  

Some blades do more harm than good.

The blade shown in the video is stiffer than I like.

The operator does not appear to be holding the saw blade flush to the surface---

notice that it's slightly "up" at the trailing edge. 

The saw teeth will scratch the work-piece surface.

If the teeth are slightly set, they can be hammered flat, using a brass-head hammer, using gently tabs.

Rest the back-side of the blade on a hard metal surface, such as a flat steel block/plate, or the like. 

A flexible "flush" cutting saw blade performs best.

The flexible flush-cut "pull saws" work very nicely.

Joshua Russell said:

I use a oslicatiing multi-tool. The trick is to come at it the same way you drilled the pocket hole. This way the blade will get caught and will not lift up and you will not have to dig down to start the cut. 

Maybe 4 seconds to cut down a plug flush. Then just a little finish sanding. 

Here is a link to an example. His problem though is he is coming at it from the side. Slips off a few times and looks like he is marking up the cabinet while its cutting. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8FJxs48wBg

[Joshua Russell]

Ken I agree with everything you said.  I will also mention that you will want offset blades. This way the fastener holding the blade on will not come into contact with the wood. I started out using a pull saw and although I think I have the patience to cut 30 or 40 plugs, I really do not.