Fitting wooden plugs

laika

laika

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Apologies for two basic woodworking questions in one week.

I'm putting back the woodwork in my boat after headlining replacement. Now hammering in teak plugs. After chiselling them down flush-ish I'm sanding them with 240-grade. However, getting some of the surrounding laminate (I think it's laminate) is unavoidable and there are sanding marks surrounding the plugs (see attached) before they're even sanded flush. Am I even doing this right, and if so, how do I best make the surrounding area look OK? The scuff marks vanish if I moisten them but re-appear when dry. I don't need the plugs to be invisible, just for there not to be scuff marks all around them. My girlfriend has discovered that rubbing olive oil into the surrounding area makes it all look much better, but I'm presuming there is a more macho and less culinary answer to the problem
 
Does the surrounding wood have some sort of surface coating? If so, I suspect it's sanding marks in that rather than in the wood/veneer itself which are so obvious. From the photo it looks like 'flattening'. A finer grade of paper, possibly finished with rubbing compound, may make it less conspicuous.
 
You'd usually be inserting wooden plugs into bare wood of the same species (having made the plugs using a plug-cutter on an offcut from whatever you were making). So you'd sand the plugs and the surrounding wood together, then finish them together, and the plugs would be almost invisible. Obviously that's not the situation you have here, but you'll need to repair the finish in a similar way. Is the existing teak varnished or oiled? Ideally it would be oiled, then just wiping a little more oil over the work would blend it in reasonably well. I'd use Danish oil rather than olive...

Pete
 
When I had this problem I tried making a sanding template (simply a very thin piece of metal with a plug sized hole in it which was held over the plug). Then I sanded the plug and bashed it in a little more when I had finished. It was moderately successful but no more. To get a good finish, I ended up sanding the surrounding wood down and revarnishing.
 
To get it to blend in you will probably have to refinish the whole panel. You may find flatting the existing finish with 400 wet and dry used wet and recoating with a matt or satin finish will give a good effect, but that may then not match the rest of the wood.
 
prv said:
You'd usually be inserting wooden plugs into bare wood of the same species (having made the plugs using a plug-cutter on an offcut from whatever you were making). So you'd sand the plugs and the surrounding wood together, then finish them together, and the plugs would be almost invisible. Obviously that's not the situation you have here, but you'll need to repair the finish in a similar way. Is the existing teak varnished or oiled?
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The OP said it was "laminate"!
 
I am the wood equivalent of the guy who says "MacOS? Windows? How would I tell?". I *think* this is veneered ply. A scuffed surface coating is very likely. How I would refinish the whole panel would be a whole other question (which perhaps I should post: how does one deal with re-varnishing veneer?) My default plan is now danish oil (thanks prv: I've watched the killing and borgen to prepare myself).
 
Westerlys used a particular gloss finish - not normal varnish. Suggest you talk to Trafalgar to find out what it is before you start using something else. It maybe that you can match it with a conventional product. It will be teak veneered ply and the top veneer may well be quite thin so not good to use anything aggressive to strip it.
 
Your plug actually appears to be a dowel, i.e. it is end grain on. Am I right?

Plugs made that way are harder to sand than the surrounding wood, and always show. The proper way to do the job is to use a matched plug cutter and drill, cutting the plugs so that you can line up the grain direction of plug and wood. After putting in all the plugs and trimming with a chisel you can sand the entire job to a uniform finish.
 
Norman_E said:
Your plug actually appears to be a dowel, i.e. it is end grain on. Am I right?
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Yes. Unfortunately even if I went out and bought a plug cutter, I've no got a sample of the same material to cut new plugs out of. Not too fussed about it not being invisible, just don't like this scuff pattern around where I'm sanding and chisel alone isn't getting it close enough. I don't even know what the surface coating is (wood has not, to date, been something I've ever really engaged with) but intend to do as Tranona suggested and ask in Trafalgar yachts (hmm...and post on the WOA site...).
 
laika said:
Yes. Unfortunately even if I went out and bought a plug cutter, I've no got a sample of the same material to cut new plugs out of. Not too fussed about it not being invisible, just don't like this scuff pattern around where I'm sanding and chisel alone isn't getting it close enough. I don't even know what the surface coating is (wood has not, to date, been something I've ever really engaged with) but intend to do as Tranona suggested and ask in Trafalgar yachts (hmm...and post on the WOA site...).
Click to expand...
I read last night that its best to dip the plugs in the varnish or whatever you will use, but end grain dowel will stick out like a sore thumb, you'll never hide them. Better to buy a few teak plugs if making them is not viable for you, fit and flatten with a sharp chisel.
KJ howells in Poole will mail them, as will others I'm sure.
 
I'm sure this is heresy but when I removed trim which had been plugged and had to replace it I used wood filler. It virtually matched the wood, only needed scraping off whilst wet so no sanding, the scraping left a slight 'grain' effect. Unless you examine very closely you cannot tell the difference from a plug. Oh and a teeny dab of varnish to get the right sheen.
 
Had not realised you were using dowelling. Very difficult to get a good finish. You really do need to use the correct method with plugs cut across the grain otherwise you will spoil the look of a very good quality boat. Not difficult. You can buy ready cut plugs in teak and mahogany, but easy to cut your own if you have access to a drill stand. Cost is literally pennies and you stand a much better chance of getting them to blend in.
 
I'm using bought (Holt) teak plugs and lining up the grain with the cabinet grain. Don't really have anywhere to keep a pillar drill: Having trouble finding space on the boat for the power tools I already have. The original plugs weren't invisible. Looking closely at what I've got, the "frame" (ie long bit with cut-outs for lockers) is veneered ply. The bit that's most obvious and ugly is solid wood, I think stained and varnished but unsure what type of varnish. Trafalgar are shut for the next couple of weeks but I've posted on the westerly forum to see if anyone knows what went onto that cabinetwork. No point in taking all the doors off and trying to sand it all back if I've no clue how to bring it back to current colour. Ideally of course the answer would have been "oh just brush some of brand X goop over and it'll be fine". Never is though is it? Just when I was getting to grips with GRP and expoxy, it's suddenly all wood, wood wood...
 
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