Wood Floor Plugs: Using and Making Them
In wood floor installation or in any type of furniture building, there is always a need to drill out screw holes, where screws are placed either to attach the panels of furniture parts or to attach floor panels more firmly into the subfloor. This is where the beauty of wood floor plugs come in. They are very essential in wood floor installation because they hide the screw holes that you have to make. These wood plug buttons are slipped into the holes through using wood glue and then they are sanded until they not only appear smooth but also feel smooth to the touch.
These hardwood floor plugs are not unlike wood ear plugs in form because they are usually tapered at one end, for easier fitting into the holes. While there are many wood flooring manufacturers now that also has a line of various plugs in different wood plug sizes for sale, you could also actually make these tapered wood plugs yourself. The various plugs now available on sale in the market are: wood dowel plugs, which are available in styles that are either multi-grooved or spiral; flat head plugs that are used either for floors or for furnitures; and, wood plug buttons that are shaped like that of mushrooms.
Making Wood Floor Plugs
If you would like to make your own plugs that have flat heads for wooden floors, then you could use a special plug cutter that is designed to come up with tapered floor plugs. You could use this cutter with a drill press that is just small in size. You can either rent or buy this plug cutter. There are now many of this type of cutter that are available in in DIY stores anywhere in affordable prices. Although you can use the cutter in a drill that is hand-held, this is quite difficult because the cutter tends to move around much if it is not held firmly in place.
Remember that it is very helpful for you to keep the cutter in a perpendicular angle to the wood that you intend to cut, so you could come up with the best plugs ever. The tapered plug cutter that you are using will cut a ring into the wood that is shaped like a doughnut, at the same time fashioning a stub that is round at the center, which is already your plug. Note that the ends of the plugs are tapered slightly and this is for easier insertion into the screw holes and that their size should also be based on the size of the holes.
The wood material that you could use for these wood floor plugs could just be the scrap wood blocks that you have left over from your wooden flooring. Be sure to use a number of various flooring scraps, so you would be able to get plugs that have a wide range of lightness as well as color.
Once you have formed these wood plugs in the scraps of wood, you can go to getting them out. Removing these wood plugs out entails prying them out with the use of a small screwdriver that has a flat blade. You have to thrust the screwdriver right deep into the groove formed by the cutter, so that you can break the plugs off right at the base. You can get long tapered plugs through this.
Using Your Wood Floor Plugs
You have to note that these wood plugs that you have made are different from the spiraled dowels. These are simply tapered at one end and have flat heads. They are more suitable for flooring and other furnitures, but not all. In inserting these plugs into screw holes, remember that the smooth end, which is the one that is tapered, should be the end that goes into the hole. This leaves the rougher end sticking out, which you should sand until it is smooth. For your plug to stay in place, place wood glue around it before you push it into the screw hole.