Good Morning Friends,

Well it's that time again so here we go;  When making a Greene and Greene piece and you know that the plugs are square, how do you put a square plug in a round hole? Also what is a good way to make the plugs black without using real Ebony?

Mornin' Ralph -

Ya gotta use a big hammer to get the square plug in that round hole...or just glue it on the surface.  Make the plugs black with India ink.

Dave.

Either chop the hole square or use a plug cutter to cut the stick, leaving the square at the end.

To ebonize small pieces, I use a magic marker. For more than a few or, larger accent pieces, a brew from oilless steel wool soaked in vinegar for a few days will turn oak and walnut black. I've not tried any other wood. Might take a few coats but it works. 

Edited December 10, 20169 yr by Gene Howe

I have seen a jig where you do it on the table saw.

You make an "L" jig with a hole the size of the square  in the upright leg and mount it on the table saw.

The fence is set about 1/16" away from the blade.

The blade is raised about 1/32" higher than the flat spot on the square stick.

The stick is fed into the hole flat side down til it stops at the fence.

Then the stick is rotated to form the round part of the plug.

The blade height can be set to match the size of dowel you wish.

This also can be done on a router table with an end cutter bit.

 

Herb

Edited December 10, 20169 yr by Dadio

Thought they made chisels for hand work that were very similar to what a mortise would use.  Drill a round hole then use the square chisel to make square.   Since the amount of wood would be so small for the pegs like to attach a bread board end, think I would just get a pen blank or two and cut to size.   

...ignore the hole, put a piece of square peg over the top of it...hide it.  Oh...chamfer the end of the peg...just for ha-ha's...

 

...or do this...

 

Now that's real cheating....

 

 

 

 

got Nick over to handle the details..