Replies

1. 
   MisterT | Jul 18, 2006 11:27pm | #1

   Lee Valley tools

   I just got a 1-3/4

   had to add a third set of pulleys to get the rpms down to ~250

   for 2-1/2 you will need to be @ 150 rpm for hard wood or 350 for softwoods

   I have no comment...

2. 
   Gene_Davis | Jul 18, 2006 11:35pm | #2

   Here is what works for me, if I want to make large-diameter inlays. 

   We'll call your circular inlays "dutchmen" because that is the old-timey term for an inlay, no matter what shape, that is used to cover goofs, knots, or whatever.

   First, get this set of router gear, available from Woodworkers Supply and others. 

   View Image

   You can see in the pic on the L how the guide bushing with its larger O.D. ring is used with a template to cut the inlay hole.  You can use hole saws, mounted in a drill press, to make various-sized templates out of material like phenolic sheet, polycarbonate sheet, or lexan.

   I stick my template to the stock I want to cut the inlay hole into, using double sided carpet tape.  Plunging in, I cut my inlay hole to a depth of maybe 3/32", up to a max depth of about 1/8".

   For the plugs I resaw stock with the bandsaw to a thickness of 5/32", and, mounting the plastic template atop the stock, the stock carpet-taped to some sacrificial plywood to work atop, I take the bushing collar off and rout the plugs.

   They are always a perfect fit, but then require finishing down to make them dead flush.  I trim them with a flush trimming foot mounted on the router, and then hit them with a RO sander, using fine grit.

   You can make a flush trim foot, or buy one from Pat Warner.  Here are a couple shots of his.

   View Image

   View Image

   If this sounds tedious, it's not.  But, if you still think it is, you can just do as many others have done before you, and use hand tools to make square or rectangular mortises for your dutchmen.  Use razor-sharp chisels to chop your holes, and a dozuki saw to rough out your dutchmen, paring them down to fit with the chisels.

1. 
   BryanSayer | Jul 19, 2006 04:49am | #7

   I'm actually doing some dutchmen on a bunch of doors (where the rim locks used to be when this was a boarding house).I hadn't thought of that for flooring though. Will it be strong enough if the person who wore high heals to our holiday party returns?

1. 
   Gene_Davis | Jul 19, 2006 05:17am | #8

   In engineered flooring products, the surface veneer is often about 1/8" thick.

   Just think of it that way. 

   If you want to make your patches a little thicker, though, you can do it.  Just plunge your mortises deeper, and slice your patch stock thicker.

1. 
   BryanSayer | Jul 19, 2006 05:25am | #9

   But engineered products have substrate under them. A portion of these patches won't have anything underneath them. These are mostly holes from gas pipes and/or valves, so they go all the way through the flooring and the subfloor.It did make me think of something to use for the patches though. I have some flooring from the second floor, which is a thin (3/8") narrow face nailed flooring that we took up from the closets we converted to a bathroom. I have nothing from the first floor, and no closets either. But if I layer some of the other together, I think that will work.

2. 
   BryanSayer | Jul 19, 2006 05:40am | #10

   For sticking your templates down, have you ever done hot glue instead of double sided carpet tape? I'm thinking that besides the dutchmen for the doors, I want to try to patch the door casing too. I have some scrape from a door we canceled, so if I can get a template to stick to the casing (still installed) I think I can do it.Anyway, I'd be a little worried that the carpet tape might sag on the vertical surface. I'm thinking put some painter's tape on the casing, and hot glue the template to the tape. I want to keep the existing finish (orange shellac) as much as possible.

1. 
   DustyandLefty | Jul 19, 2006 07:48pm | #11

   What about using a regular hole cutter?  You can use the pilot bit and cutter to cut out a circle in a piece of 3/4 plywood, and then screw the plywood down to the board you are using to make the plug.  Take out the pilot bit and use the plywood as your template to keep the circle bit from wandering around.  This might be too crude for a good wood floor, and you'd have to experiment to see what size smaller hole cutter is necessary to use in your floor to get a good fit.  Or maybe just lock everything down tight in a drill press and use the hole cutter without the pilot bit at a real slow speed.

   Dusty and Lefty

    

    

2. 
   Gene_Davis | Jul 19, 2006 08:00pm | #12

   The double sided carpet tape I use works horizontally, vertically, and overhead.  It is agressive stuff, certainly aggressive enough to hold a template to a surface that is going to be routed.

   When routing the inlay stock to make the plugs, be sure and fix the stock with tape or hotmelt both outside the plug area, and under the plug, too.  When that router bit cuts through the last of the perimeter, you'll want the plug fixed in place so things don't go blooie on you.

   Take a look at the different bushings, collars, and bits available.  I use the little 1/8" bit with the small bushing and collar set to do 1/8" bowtie inlays, or any other shape at that inlay thickness.

   For heavier inlays, the 1/8" bit is too spindly for the deeper plunges, and I use the big set.  With that one you can rout the heavy-thickness sets you need, both mortise and plug.

   I did a staircase with white oak treads, and to cover (and decorate) the knot blems in the treads, I inlaid 1/2" thick bowties in black walnut.  For that depth, the big set works just fine.

3. 
   IMERC | Jul 18, 2006 11:37pm | #3

   LeValley Veritas....

   Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming

   WOW!!! What a Ride!

   Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!

4. 
   Brian | Jul 19, 2006 12:35am | #4

   What Gene said, and then you can do any shaped dutchman you want.

    

   Treat every person you meet like you will know them the rest of your life - you just might!
5. 
   frenchy | Jul 19, 2006 01:07am | #5

   BryanSayer,

    What I  do is take a big chunk of the stock and chuck it into my lathe and make it as big around as I want.. 2 inch, 4 inch 12 inch?  heck it's easy!

     then I take the resulting large diameter rod and bandsaw it to slightly thicker than what I need.  A hole saw cuts out the old and then the slice of rod goes in and is sanded down..

1. 
   wrudiger | Jul 19, 2006 03:57am | #6

   nice solution if you want end-grain plugs...

6. 
   splintergroupie | Jul 19, 2006 10:44pm | #13

   I use a hole saw in a drill press (not the flimsy one with the 1/4" shank, but the closed circle of rigid steel with the hexagonal shank mandrel) to cut the plug, then the appropriate size Forstner bit drills a hole in the substrate. I found several hole saws and Forstner bits that would give the plugs a tight fit. Depending on the color of the woods, i either use epoxy or polyurethane to set them; epoxy dries with a darker ring, while poly has a lighter tone.

   Here's an example of hard maple plugs set in mahogany in a table top about 16" on a side, with 2" plugs: