Greene and Greene Ebony Plugs Part Three : Punches and Installation

The third installment of my Ebony Peg series.
This segment deals with the basics of punching out the square hole as well as the installation of the plug. Future videos will deal with some of the alternate methods and uses I employ.
The square punches can be purchased at Lee Valley:
www.leevalley....

[@wb_finewoodworking]

It’s interesting to see how gently you tapped that plug in. Great explanation and demonstration.

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

thanks, Don

[@tree_carcass_mangler]

Thanks for posting, and thumbs up!

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

thank you!

[@josephbrotherton196]

Just a suggestion; grind off the mushroomed end of the punch. I liked your demonstration.

[@stevejensen3471]

Great vid Darrell. As I've manually done with mine, milling center reference lines on each side of the chisel faces sure helps with centering the chisel against ones crosshair lines on the piece. Something to think about :)

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

thanks, Steve Good idea!

[@barryomahony4983]

Those punches from Lee Valley are great!
I like to drill the hole first with a brad point bit at the center. Then I replace that with a transfer punch of the same diameter, which is plenty long. I slide the punch over that and line it up with a square, and remove the transfer punch and drive it in.

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

I do something very similar sometimes - I will cover that in an upcoming video.

[@theofarmmanager267]

I also use this “drill first” method - really because I didn’t know the “official” method and just worked out what worked best for me. It was interesting to see from the present day master how deep the plugs were inserted - perhaps so that the edges of the plug are equal to the edge of the mortise? I have to say that, in my ignorance, I have tended to leave the plugs slightly higher (edge of plug perhaps 1mm higher than the sides of the mortise) really because I haven’t seen a G&G piece up close and personal and I just went with what I liked. I probably, it seems, make my plugs a slightly tighter fit in the mortise so that I do have to exert a bit more pressure with the mallet. To ensure that I don’t hammer the plug in too far, I use a piece of 2mm or 3mm plywood with a mortise cut out just a bit larger than the size of the plug. I then use a mallet or hammer onto a sacrificial block which rests on top of the ply which surrounds the plug in the mortise. I can’t therefore drive the plug in deeper than the thickness of the ply.

[@michaelkelly3221]

@@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker Too bad you don't provide a link to buy these punches. No doubt you're missing out on royalties!

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

@@michaelkelly3221 Hi Michael ! Done - just added the link.

[@RONNIEJNZN]

dont those unscrew so you can use regular bits ?

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

Yes - they do unscrew . You could potentially do it that way but it would make the process a little more complicated

[@blakeyokum1547]

Where do you get your aircraft drill bits? Loved your demonstration.

[@DarrellPeartFurnitureMaker]

thanks, Blake. Most of my aircraft bits came from a local Boeing Surplus store years ago. I see that Amazon offers them and Garrett Wade .