Plug thickness to hide screws?

[eyekode]

I have a project where I am abutting two cabinets. They do not have face frames but are edged with 3/4" thick maple. There is a visible gap when abutting the cabinets. I want to pull them together by screwing the maple edging together from adjoining cabinets. But I would like to hide this with a plug. The stock isn't very thick and I want as much screw in it as possible. How deep should I recess the screws? I have a countersink set with tapered drill bit but I have not picked up a plug cutter yet so I really don't have any experience here. How thin can I make the plug (to maximize the screw length I can use)?

Thanks!
Salem

 

[Canuck]

Salem.

If I using a plug to hide a screw hole, I generally countersink by about 1/8" to 3/16". Tap in a tapered plug and cut off the access with a flush trim saw and sand. (If my stock is thicker than 3/4" I'll go 5/16" with the countersink.)

(If I am just painting over it, I though on some wood putty (couple of coats as it does shrink while drying), sand and paint.)

Wayne

 

[eyekode]

Thanks Wayne, the cabinets are not going to be painted. I am dying to permanently mount these cabinets but don't yet have a tapered plug cutter. I didn't want to make any mistakes I couldn't easily fix later .

Thanks again, 1/8-3/16ths it is!
Salem

 

[CrealBilly]

Personally I would not go with a tapered plug, that you might have to dig out later, if you decided to move the cabinets. I would go with a mushroom plug that you can pop out with a chisel

 

[ScottM]

Personally I would not go with a tapered plug, that you might have to dig out later, if you decided to move the cabinets. I would go with a mushroom plug that you can pop out with a chisel

Jeff,

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING????? These plugs are round.

:rotflm: :rotflm: :rotflm:

 

[red]

I would use the tapered plug as mentioned and not the mushroom one. If you need to remove the screw later for any reason, you should be able to split the plug and pop it out of the hole without damaging the cabinet.

Red

 

[Scwood]

Im with Red on this one.Flush plugs look alot better.

 

[CrealBilly]

Im with Red on this one.Flush plugs look alot better.

OK but don't say I didn't warn you... I've set up a lot of furniture in my days and no manufacturer supplies tapered plugs for assembling beds, entertainment centers, a row of bookcases, etc...

I can attest that tapered plugs can be a real hassle to remove and replace especially if you glue them in place. You really do need glue them in place, since your going to be sanding them flush. Glue also keeps tapered plugs set where you put it when the wood shrinks and swells due to environmental factors.

However just a little dab of glue will keep a mushrooms plug in place till it needs to be removed and then it's just a matter of popping them out with a chisel when you need to remove them, there's no glue in the screw head either, plus if you removed them carefully, mushroom plugs can be reused.

Keep in mind this is my opinion only, I consider tapered plugs permanent and mushroom plugs temporary.

Thanks

 

[eyekode]

Thanks guys for all the options. The project is custom sized to fit very specific dimensions (which is probably stoopid ). It is pretty big too (66x60 when I put all 4 together). And if I ever have to move this thing I will probably have to just rebuild it instead.

So for this one I will use tapered plugs (as soon as I buy a plug cutter...) and save the mushrooms for something that maybe possibly I will move.

Best wishes,
Salem