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Hello,

Has anyone come across a supplier that makes smaller plug cutters like 1/8" or even better 1/16"? I like to use 2.5mm stainless tubes for fret position markers. The OD is 2.5mm and the inside diameter is ~1/16". Sometimes I fill the inside with dust and CA, sometimes use white or black dot marker in the middle. Recently I used a 1/16" hardwood dowel to fill in the middle, which I liked, but it is end grain so it was hard to keep it clean looking. My thought was if I could find a 1/16" plug cutter I could cut a plug and it wouldn't have to be end grain.

I also ordered a jewelers draw plate that is supposed to be able to take a dowel at 1/8 or 3/32 down to 1/16 or smaller. However I haven't found a plug cutter to even get to 1/8" let alone 1/16".

Anyone run across one of these?

Brad

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Here is an example of the end grain dowel. It’s not great looking afterward.




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I don't know if it would work with a diameter that small but you can make a plug cutter by filing little teeth in the tube you want to fill and chucking it in your drill press. This should cut plugs that fit perfectly but it will be difficult filing the teeth so small.

Edit: I just realized your tube it 2.5 mm, I read that as 0.25 inches at first I was thinking fretboard face dots not side markers. I don't think my advice will apply well here. . . sorry.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

One thing I have done on a larger tube is to file the edges of one end of the tube into a sharp cutter (similar to Bryan's suggestion but no teeth) then using it as a punch to cut pieces out of a very thin piece of wood (plane shaving). This 'veneer" piece then gets glued on top of the dowel plug in the tube. The dowel plug would need to be recessed the correct thickness for the veneer to end up at the end of the tube. I have done this successfully with larger tubes but never tried it as this diameter.
Another suggestion would be to glue a thin piece of cross grain wood to the end of a 1" length of your plug dowel, then chuck it into a drill press and sand the end grain piece using the dowel as a guide to get the correct size. Then insert dowel and attached cross grain piece into the tube to the correct depth.

I cut a section of the tube about 1 1/2” long. I’ll put a piece of the brass insert at the last 1/2” that goes in the chuck so it doesn’t get crushed by the chuck. Turn it on, hold a file on the corner at about 45* and turn til the end is sharp. Then put the scrap you want the plug from and basically drill through it. Your tube will be filled to the depth of your scrap, so thicker scrap is better. Then remove from chuck, tap into hole, and flush cut, saturate with ultra thin CA.

That being said, at such a small diameter, the difference between end and side grain is hard to tell...

Here is an earlier thread on re-sizing dowels. I've never tried going as small as 1/16" but it might work.
http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=52928

Chris Ensor (Elevate Lutherie) can likely make you a custom 1/16" Dot Driller that would work beautifully for this application.

https://youtu.be/GOih-D9B1_c

[youtube]https://youtu.be/GOih-D9B1_c[/youtube]

https://elevatelutherie.com/product/dot-driller/

I'm with the homemade cutter using a tube

Dowel and a pencil sharpener.
You need to make your own dowel if you want face grain, a 1/4” x 1/4” piece of stock is all you need.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

I've used the notched tube method to cut out the odd disk of something. I wondered how it would work with 1/8 OD, 1/16 ID so being in the shop tried it. I only had some hard copper tube and I cut the notches with a Dremel cutoff wheel w/o more then hand held accuracy.

I chucked it in the drill press and it cut a decent 1/16" dia plug in hard maple ~ 3/8 long that broke in 2 when pressed out with a stiff wire, but definitely usable. Better than I thought.

Did the same with a piece of ebony fingerboard with less success. Some just turned to sawdust or produced some very short disks.

So it worked but not perfect. With stainless tube and more attention to the cutting notches/teeth it would probably work better. Maybe disks cut from thin wood would work better too.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

For making small "plugs" I use a 4 flute "W.L.Fuller" type countersink that takes a drill bit. I reverse the drill bit in the countersink and leave most the shaft hole open. I chuck it up in a drill press and cut a number of plugs part way through the material and then cut them loose with a saw. The picture is one using a broken drill bit, but reversing the drill bit is what I usually do. A link showing the different sizes available (note drill sizes down to 3/32nds)

https://wlfuller.com/html/high_speed_steel.html

Frank Ford on the topic.

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ... utter.html

I have used Frank's method successfully. I have put a solid brass rod inside the hollow one so you can chuck it up tighter and use it to push out the plug.

Another great use for this concept is removing broken tuner screws. If you go to a hobby shop with a tuner screw you can find hollow brass tubing that just barely fits over the screw. Get some along with some solid rod that will fit inside the tube to stabilize it in your drill chuck.

Cut some teeth in the end of the hollow tube and chuck it in your drill and drill over the broken screw in REVERSE. It will grab the broken screw as it goes in and spin it out. The defect is typically quite small and obscured by the tuner plate.

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I have one from elevate. The make them pretty small from what I remember


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