I’m looking to make an early american corner cabinet and I see the plan (Popular Woodworking, Dec 2002 #131b y Glen Huey) calls for square peg joinery throughout. I’ve never used square pegs before. It looks like the 1/4″ square pegs are hammered into predrilled round holes.
1) Is this correct? I would think it would mar the case too much.
2) If this is a proper way to do it, what size hole should be predrilled for a 1/4″ square peg.
3) Is there is a better way (i.e., square pegs into square holes)? What do you recommend?
4) For a raised panel door should the peg run through the entire mortise and tenon joint from front to back?
5) Also, I see the pegs are driven in through the case where the shelves are dadoed in. With our modern glues, is it necessary to have the pegs driven into the shelf itself. Seems like overkill to me.
6) I presume you would glue the pegs in place. Right?
Bankrupt
Replies
BK ,
A mortiser can be used to make the square holes and by all means glue square stock in.
dusty
at least that's what Normie would do
There's a long tradition of square pegging, most often seen in French cabinetry. The pegs are square stock that get handplaned to ease the corners and taper just a bit so they start easy. After being driven (with glue) they are cut off flush on both sides of the joint.
The size hole to drill depends entirely on the wood species, and how much crushing the fibres will bear. Joints in oak need to be drilled larger than joints in pine. You must do some trials to get it right before you attempt pegging the real piece.
Some would consider the entire thing as overkill. A good mortise and tenon joint can live very well without the pegs. If you like the look, do it. If not, you can forego the pegs.
DR
31471.3 in reply to 31471.1
Ring,
Thanks for the info. I'm far from a purist on reproducing period pieces, so I agree that it is more up to my aesthetic tastes. I'm confident in the mortise and tenons to hold without pegs as well as the shelfs in the dadoes. However I am curious if historical pieces have the pegs running all the way through the M-T joints, and especially into the dadoed shelf. I imagine the answer is yes, as I don't imagine they were doing it for show.
Bankrupt
Hey Bankrupt,
Glen has a website at:
http://www.woodworkersedge.com/
He can be contacted at:
[email protected]
Glen is a really great guy. His father is a great woodworker, and gave Glen his start. They had a shop together for a long time. Look them up on the web and you'll find some great photos of them and their work.
I am sure that if you write to Glen with your questions, he'll send you a personal response very quickly.
Enjoy.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Thanks, Mel. I sent him an e-mail just a while ago. I hope to hear from him soon.
Bankrupt
I am sure you will hear from him. Next time when you write to him, tell him that Mel suggested that you write to him.The way he does it is to use a 1/4" square piece of wood and put it in a pencil sharpener to round off one end. You drive the point and the round part through and then the square part kind of locks into the hole. Obviously there are little spaces on the four sides. You can leave the square part a little proud of the surface and then use a chisel to bevel all four sides. It really looks cool.Enjoy.
MelPS be sure to let me know what comes of your message to Glen. Also, go to the website I gave you. He has a newsletter and you can sign up for it. It doesn't come out often but it has some good stuff in it. Nice plans.Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Sorry for the delay...I was out of town for the holiday. Glen did e-mail me back the next day. BTW I responded back and passed on your name. Thanks for the heads up on his website. Here is his response:
I am glad to answer questions for you. My thanks to the Fine Woodworking people.<!----><!----> <!---->
I want to start with something from the article first. I have found since that article was published that there is a better way to assemble the front face frame of the cabinet. Instead of splining the pieces together it is much easier and as strong to simply glue the two beveled edges. I have made a special clamp (picture attached) that works great in this case. Or, add duct tape to the outside or face of the pieces and add a small clamp (or more tape) at the back to keep it from spreading.<!----> <!---->
Now on to your questions. The square pegs are driven into a drilled hole. For a ¼” peg I use a ¼” bit. The secret is to use a wood for your pegs that is harder than the project lumber. I almost always use red oak for my pegs. As you set the peg you can either slide a protective piece of plywood scrap over the peg to keep from marring the project or do not drive the peg flat to the surface but trim it with a saw.<!----> <!---->
I have seen guys use a old mortise chisel to set the hole square as well. I have even seen some one make a square piece of steel into a device to drive into the hole to make it square. I guess they work but using the harder wood allows the edges of the pegs to cut into the surrounding wood adding increased holding power.<!----> <!---->
On the doors I always push the pegs through the joint. This is primarily done because it is easier than trying to stop the piece part way through and because that is how I have seen it in the many antique pieces that I get to look at. As for the shelves – it probably is overkill, but I like the added protection and the pegs provide a bit of design to the exterior of the cupboard.<!----><!---->
<!----><!---->
To install the pegs I drill the hole (BTW- test the fit of your peg into a hole prior to trying to install them) add glue to the hole and drive the pegs in place. Cut off the balance and sand smooth. <!----> <!---->
Good luck on the project. If you have further questions, please contact me again.<!----> <!---->
<!----><!---->Build Something Great!<!----><!---->
Glen D. Huey<!----><!---->
That was a great answer by Glen. Glad I was able to help.
Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Bankrupt,
I drill 1/4" holes with a depth collar on a brad point drill. Cut 1/4" x 1/4" pegs, sometimes with contrasting woods. Thcn I whittle the end to be inserted as close to 1/4" as possible and then cut it off to length on the bandsaw (safer and I don't lose any pegs). Then I whittle the next one, and so on, because whittleing the end of a longer peg is easier than a short one.
Then I drive the pegs in, with glue, and I many times insert the peg rotated 45 degrees so they look like diamonds.
Practice on a couple and you'll see how easy it is. Other than maple I have never had any problems.
John
Pins,
what problem did you have with maple? Splitting? I was just about to do that in maple. I will wait til I hear back from you. Please give suggestions.
Thanks,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
The problem with maple is that it, hard maple, is so hard that the square ends of the pegs just chip off, leaving an odd-shaped round peg.John
I like the idea of the diamond motif. Do you do your pegs just for looks or do you drive them all the way through the MT joint? How would you prevent blowout on the back side when driving the peg through.
Same question for pegging the case where the shelves are dadoed...would you peg into the shelf itself or just superficially for looks?
Bankrupt
I set the peg for looks but I drive the peg through the leg and through the tenon into the other side of the leg. That's why I use a depth stop on the drill bit and I use that for a guide to the length of the peg, but I leave the peg a little longer than the depth of the hole and then saw the peg flush with a flush saw.John
Bank,
1) Yes that's correct. I don't know what you mean by marring the case. The directions that came with my pegs said to hit them on their ends! Cat tracks (hammer marks) are the sign of a careless/clumsy worker.
2) 1/4" hole for a 1/4" square peg. Make sure the peg isn't at all oversize, and you won't have a problem. If the peg IS oversize, it will likely split the stock it is driven into.
3) Square holes not necessary. Just chamfer the corners of the pegs back a little, to ease their entry into the holes. Depending on the hardness of the wood, either the pegs will deform the hole to square, or the hole will compresss the peg's corners.
4) Most old work was drilled through and through, with accompanying breakout on the back side. This can be avoided by drilling into a sacrificial block clamped against the back of the door, or by drilling only through the tenon and into, but not through, the back side of the mortised stile. Use a stop (a 3/4 x 3/4""block that you've drilled through longwise and cut to the proper length) to accomplish this. Be sure and support the back side of the joint when you drive the peg, to prevent "blowout".
5) A dadoed shelf's glue surface is endgrain to long grain, not a very strong glue joint. It is often reinforced in old work by glueblocks, underneath, where they don't show. If the shelf is in the center of the case. it might be useful to peg it so it won't be able to slide around if (when) the glue joint fails. The pegs can be "toenailed" (driven into sideways-angled holes)if they are being depended on to keep case sides from spreading.
6) Dip the tips of the pegs into the glue of your choice, then drive them into place. After the glue dries, saw the pegs off a little (1/16" or so) proud of the surface, then pare flush with a sharp chisel.
7) Some additional thoughts: While the pegs aren't necessary with good fitting joints, they acted as insurance (a mechanical bond) in the days of hand chopped, hand sawn, mortise and tenon joints, where the glue might not be sufficient for the job. They were also used in place of glue. Today, aside from their aesthetic virtues, pegging a joint while still in clamps enables the worker to remove the clamps immediately after pegging and go on to the next assembly, in the case of multiples (chairs in a set, or several doors in a cabinet or cupboard) that would require many clamps otherwise.
In most cases, the pegs were made from the same wood species as the project. Soft wood pegs, like white pine, may be too soft to drive, so often a hard wood like maple or hickory was used instead.
I've seen case bottoms held in place with pegs, and moldings attached with pegs, where finish nails would be more typically used. Also, multiple pegs (2 or 3) in a single joint. Mostly seen in furniture from areas with strong German or Swiss heritage, like PA, or VA's Shenandoah Valley. They seem to have looked at the pegs' contrasting end grain as a decorative feature. High-style English practice was less appreciative of anything that marred a surface.
Regards,
Ray Pine
Ray,You said just about exactly what I suggested, and I agree. I would add that I do not dip the peg in glue because I don't want to risk any glue on the surface if I am going to color the wood, especially with dyes.Rather I use a glue bottle with a very skinny tip, actually a Clairol hair dye bottle, and inject the glue into the hole then use a stick a little larger than a toothpick to spread the glue around inside the hole and then drive the peg.John
John,
I use a bit of waterbased dye to color my glue, so it's easy to see if there's any on the wood surface. Paring the pins flush takes care of it. Problem with dropping glue into the hole, is if you overdo it, there's a risk of hydraulic pressure splitting something when you drive the pin home. There's nowhere for the glue to go, in a blind hole.
Regards,
Ray
Ray,I agree, but I don't use that much glue in the hole, just enough to lightly coat the inside of the hole so I don't have that problem.John
I just did a cedar table top and two benches where I drove 3/8" walnut pegs into 3/8" circular holes. Here is what I learned:
EVen though the walnut is hard and the cedar is soft, the cedar does not go completely square, so there are sloppy looking gaps around the holes.
How you shape your pegs is crucial. Unwisely, I cut the end of a long 3/8 x 3/8 stick on the band saw, tapering it back as finely as I could with a delicate blade. This did not work. The sides were uneven. Then when I drove them into the holes, the pegs actually moved the holes so that they did not line up perfectly.
I drove them all the way through the mortise and tenon joint, but this created a minor problem on the back side becuase the peg was, at that point, to thin for the hole, so I wound up using wood filler. Ugh.
I wetted each peg and gave it a thin coat of poly glue, but the glue inevitably squeezed out on the surface. Because I still have serious sanding to do, this is not a big deal, but in the future, I'd put the glue in a the hole with a fine-nosed glue bottle.
Finally, if you are using non-clear wood like my cedar, you'll get splits which, in one sense, destroys all your work. After the first split, I sort of prevented them by clamping the table top and bench tops. HOwever, I got two more split outs on the very outside of the breadboard ends because there was weird grain and no clamping sideways.
For what it's worth,
Jim Bell
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