Ok, time for a little Christmas step by step. I’m sure a few of the newer guys got lathes or other plug making tools for Christmas. So here is something to play with to get started. Hopefully there is something in here that will be of use to those who have been making plugs for a while too. For those more experienced, feel free to suggest alternative ways to do some of the steps (I don’t mind learning too
). Here I’ll go through the steps to making a Danny plug. The end plug will be 5 inches long and weigh around 1 ½ oz. I’ll be using AYC for the wood, but other woods can also be used. You may have to play with the amount of weight in the plug if you use another wood. Note that in the following photos none of the equipment is turned on (I like my fingers!!). Ok, on to the plug building!
I start with a block of AYC that is 6 inches long. I like to start with a block that is a little longer than the finished plug as it gives me the square ends to keep things lined up after turning the blank. I have a center finder jig set up to quickly mark the centers. The jig is basically a section of 2x4 with two sides attached to form a corner and a section of a jig saw blade placed down the exact center of the 2x4. Place the blank in the jig and hit with a mallet, turn 45 degrees and hit again. The “X” marks the center of the blank. Do the same for the other end too. Now you have the center of your block. This jig also works for round dowels.