After Putting Eyes In Plugs

[PurpelNoon]

At my first attempt in adding epoxy eyes to my stock plugs(Gibbs etc.), I have been successful at not chipping the paint etc.
However I do have a couple of questions.

Im using good forstner bits to drill the eye holes. I think I may have been going too deep? How do I know when to stop?

I wrap the plug in a towel and put it into a vice but the soft wood of the plug gets creased(damaged). Any way to prevent?

Finally, what should I use to glue in the eyes and what can I coat the exposed wood with, preferable paint? and what can I use to coat the whole plug(which is usually old and used) to waterproof it. If you can give me brand names that would be great.

Sorry for so many questions. Thanks in advance.

[BigFish]

You don't need to put those plugs in a vise to drill the holes for the eyes. Just lay it on a towel and drill it slowly and carefully. To determine how you want the eyes to look, take a scrap piece of wood and drill several holes in it all at a slightly different depth and place the eyes in the holes to see what looks good to you. Then mark the depth on the bit with a piece of masking tape and drill your eyes. I like mine just barely into the plug, I like em' kind of sticking out. Just my begginers .02 cents.

[spence]

I drill the eyes just deep enough so the eye is a 1/16" or so from the edge of the hole at the nearest spot. It can vary a bit unless you have things perfectly in alignment.

Are you using a drill press? Very difficult to do by hand. I place the plugs in a simple jig on the drill press, basically a piece of 2x6 with a v groove ripped down the middle. If it's a shaped plug like a danny I use a shim on one end to keep it from rocking.

I use Waterlox marine sealer to seal non cedar plugs, BIN red label spray to prinme, simple rust-o-leum spray cans to do the paint job, epoxy to glue the eyes and Envirotex Lite for the finish coat.

The more experience guys might give some other options, but the products listed above are pretty common for beginners...

-spence

[PurpelNoon]

Super info so far. Thank you!

I dont have a drill press. I think I probably could just hold it, since the forstner bits are good quality and go in real easy. I have some zap -a-gap epoxy I guess I could use for the glue.

[justplugit]

PurpleNoon,
you can use a couple pieces of some 1/2 in styrofoam on either side of the plug in your vice and tighten just enough to hold without putting dents in your plugs. Just go slow.
Hope it helps.

[PurpelNoon]

I never thought of that. Good idea. Thanks!

[Tagger]

fostner or bradpoint bit.. I glue eyes in with crazy glue of some type to fill void behind eye .. If you just stick em epoxy bubbles around eyes from trapped air ..