I need help! So....I spent all my yearly patience quota putting 8+ coats of varnish on my grab rails and drip ledge on my M23. Now i need to add the plugs to cover the screw holes. Most on the grab rail are either flush or close enough to sand without damage. The drip rail has issues as the plugs need serious trimming. HOW DO I DO THIS?? Thinking a real sharp new chisel, but not sure. DO NOT want to damage any of the varnish work. Please send help. Theo M23 Sails Increase Chef Theo Petron A la Maison Personal Chef Service cheftheo@comcast.net 215-913-9904
Hi Theo, from what I have read in Good Old Boat (the book) the procedure is to take a sharp chisel as you mention and make a first "cut" in one direction at an angle that makes the plug almost flush then "cut" from the opposite direction at the level of the grab rail or whatever so that the plug it flush. If the plug is close to flush I am guessing only one "cut" would be required. The picture shows the first cut as having a slight angle to it finishing just above the level of the rail and the second being level/flush. And you use the side of the chisel that has the angled flush cut if that makes sense. It sounds like one would need to be careful of the surrounding varnish but it is pretty tough. I have only recently been introduced to varnish so I do not consider myself a subject matter expert but the book has been very good on everything I have needed advice on, which is almost everything. Hope this helps and please post some pictures somewhere of what you have done! Thanks Robbin On 4/23/2011 10:05 PM, Theo Petron wrote:
I need help! So....I spent all my yearly patience quota putting 8+ coats of varnish on my grab rails and drip ledge on my M23. Now i need to add the plugs to cover the screw holes. Most on the grab rail are either flush or close enough to sand without damage. The drip rail has issues as the plugs need serious trimming. HOW DO I DO THIS?? Thinking a real sharp new chisel, but not sure. DO NOT want to damage any of the varnish work. Please send help. Theo M23 Sails Increase
Chef Theo Petron A la Maison Personal Chef Service cheftheo@comcast.net 215-913-9904
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I've trimmed a bazillion plugs (at least), and the easy way is to have the chisel shaving-sharp, and to use the beveled side of the chisel down. make the first cut about a sisteenth hi, then slowly raise the handle as you make the following cuts (think of them as shavings, and use kind of a rocking movement and try to make the shavings very thin, like using a plane. The shavings will SPLIT off, so after the first cut you will get a feel for the direction of the grain (angling up or down) and adjust accordingly so the split-off shavings won't drop down below the surrounding wood. If that starts happening, simply change the direction of the cuts. After you get good at it, you can trim a plug in 5 or 6 seconds, I'd guess. I always glue exterior plugs with epoxy, and trim them before the epoxy sets or the hardened epoxy will dull the chisel edge immediately. A one-inch chisel is best. I have an inch-long deep cut in the palm of my hand from trimming plugs about 30 years ago, and I wasn't nearly as clumsy then as I am now, so be carefull. Actually, the scar is a macho talking point with the constant stream of young women who are always pursuing me. jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "robbin roddewig" <robbin.roddewig@verizon.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 4:09 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Teak Plugs
Hi Theo, from what I have read in Good Old Boat (the book) the procedure is to take a sharp chisel as you mention and make a first "cut" in one direction at an angle that makes the plug almost flush then "cut" from the opposite direction at the level of the grab rail or whatever so that the plug it flush. If the plug is close to flush I am guessing only one "cut" would be required. The picture shows the first cut as having a slight angle to it finishing just above the level of the rail and the second being level/flush. And you use the side of the chisel that has the angled flush cut if that makes sense. It sounds like one would need to be careful of the surrounding varnish but it is pretty tough. I have only recently been introduced to varnish so I do not consider myself a subject matter expert but the book has been very good on everything I have needed advice on, which is almost everything.
Hope this helps and please post some pictures somewhere of what you have done!
Thanks Robbin
On 4/23/2011 10:05 PM, Theo Petron wrote:
I need help! So....I spent all my yearly patience quota putting 8+ coats of varnish on my grab rails and drip ledge on my M23. Now i need to add the plugs to cover the screw holes. Most on the grab rail are either flush or close enough to sand without damage. The drip rail has issues as the plugs need serious trimming. HOW DO I DO THIS?? Thinking a real sharp new chisel, but not sure. DO NOT want to damage any of the varnish work. Please send help. Theo M23 Sails Increase
Chef Theo Petron A la Maison Personal Chef Service cheftheo@comcast.net 215-913-9904
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
When posting, remember that there is no privacy on the Internet!
participants (3)
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jerry -
robbin roddewig -
Theo Petron