Plugging and smoothing the screw holes is my quickie task for today.  I have much to do around the house and yard, but I want to get caught up before the new week begins.

For me, the key to making great looking screw hole plugs is to use scraps of wood from the project being built so the color is as close a match as possible and then cutting a generous number of plugs so I have a variety to choose from.  They important thing is to find plugs that show grain patterns as close to the grain in the surrounding wood as possible.  This will result in as near an invisible plug as possible.

Apply just enough glue to the inside of the hole.  You want enough to hold the plug in securely but not so much it gooshes out making a mess when you tap the plug home.

Line up the selected plug and tap it into place with a mallet.

When the glue has tacked up, cut the excess plug away with a flush cut saw.  If you choose to do this with a heavy chisel (called  a slick) make sure you know which way the grain runs in the plug: if the cut chases the grain down into the hole you will have to drill out the plug and do it over.  Slice so if the plug cracks the grain will carry the crack upward where you can shave or sand away the excess.

Sand everything smooth and pretty with 120 grit paper and you're ready to begin the finish sanding phase.  I'll get into that next time.  See you then!