two part plug blanks

[fishing bum wannabe]

I have been using Franklin Titebond Weatherproof carpenters glue for 3 years. I have had no glue failures to date. It is designed for exterior applications, including outdoor furniture. I used is for years before using it to make plugs. There are several joints in a bench that had been outside on my deck year-round for 5 years without failure. That convinced me that this would hold up in a plug which hardly gets saturated at all.

It is easy to use, easy to clean up, and sets up to turn overnite. In the past I had used various epoxies, and until I found the Franklin Titebond Weaterproof (they also make a regular carpenters glue which is not what I am recomending for plugs), I struggled through the mess and smell, with epoxy all over myself and my tools. Now I groove one half of the blank down the center with a 1/16" thin kerf table saw blade, coat the inside of each blank half with Titebond glue and clamp them. Drill out the kerf with a 1/8" bit after the 2 sided blank has set up for a day or so and you are ready to turn.

It is available at virtually any lumberyard including Home Depot. And inexpensive, less than $10 a quart compared to buying the west system, at least $50 for resin, hardener, two pumps, cups and mixing sticks. Then there is the Acetone or lacquer thinner for clean up.

Sometimes simpler is better.