Looking for recommendations for a good plug cutter. I currently have the one pictured but I’m not impressed by it. It says half inch but the plugs are slightly less than that.
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Replies
Here is how the plugs are fitting.
I believe that a tapered plug cutter is better, since it will always allow you to snugly fit the hole.
Yes, tapered is the way to go. I tried to link a Lee Valley URL, but it was too long and ugly. Simply search tapered snug plug cutter Lee Valley.
There are a few types, and the one you posted is the worst.
Make It Snappy has good ones if you are always using a drill press. They can be used by hand but it takes some skill. Kinda like using a holesaw without a pilot bit.
Montana makes one with a spring loaded center that is helpful if using a hand held drill.
Also, I had a set of three that looked just like the one in the photo (mine was Vermont American brand from a big box store) and one of them snapped in use, even though I had only used it 1-2 times before and wasn't pushing it hard. Not an item it's worth scrimping on, IMO.
In terms of quality, American made, and an excellent fit I have been using plug cutters from W.L. Fuller for years. Over the years I have bought them locally individually but most people know the company from their sets, countersinks and plug cutters, I've had my set for 20+ years.
Highly recommend.
http://www.wlfuller.com/plug-cutters
The OP's picture looks to be of a dowel maker, not a plug cutter. Dowel makers produce a longer barrel of wood and have no taper. Plug cutters are shorter and have a taper.
In both cases, such tooling is often sold with a matching drill bit, generally a Forstner drill bit but perhaps a brad point drill bit for smaller sizes. If not, there's no guarantee that a randomly selected bit supposedly of the same diameter will be an exact match.
Although such things, especially at the inexpensive end, are given a diameter-value, some suppliers label metric and imperial as (crudely) equivalent. For example, I've seen them advertised as "12mm / 1/2 inch" but that is not the same dimension, as we know.
The other pic from the OP may be of a 12mm dowel in a 1/2" hole.