# Band Saw Pocket Hole Plug Cutting Jig



## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I’ve seen several well designed jigs for using the table saw to cut pocket hole plugs, but opted to go with using the band saw, instead.

The groove is just wide enough to hold a 3/8” dowel and runs at seventy-five (fifteen degrees off ninety) to the upper left of the table. I just set my miter to fifteen degrees and ran three cuts. So the bottom would remain flat at the back, I placed a spacer between the jig and the fence.

The front has a stop, which hangs down about a quarter inch lower than the jig, so the jig can only go so far back. With it, you don’t have to guess where to stop.

At the top of the jig, parallel to the front of the table, is another groove for cutting the plugs to length. It has a stop (upper left) with an elongated hole to allow minute adjustments for length.

The pocket holes on the bottom right are just to allow tests of the end product. The enlarged holes are so the plugs can be popped back out with relative ease.


I am thinking about adding a few pieces of wood to act as shields to keep fingers away from the blades, since this could be a monotonous actvity and it would be easy to lose attention. When I do, I'll update the photos. 

I'll also add some dimensions for clarity.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

That's a great tip, Kelly.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks, Kelly. Great idea.


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## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

Thanks


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## SRVDVM (Nov 13, 2012)

This looks well thought out, easy and practical. How much money do you save by making your own plugs?


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## schroedc (Jun 23, 2014)

That is a great way to make plugs! I'll have to keep it in mind when I do work with material you can't buy off the shelf plugs for like Cocobolo or other exotics, I can turn the dowel on my lathe and then cut them this way!


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

A dowel cost about a buck and I get forty-eight plugs from it. Fifty run about seven dollars on Amazon Prime. Elsewhere, it could be more, unless you buy bulk. As such, you save about six bucks a pop.




SRVDVM said:


> This looks well thought out, easy and practical. How much money do you save by making your own plugs?


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I've made a few of the modifications I talked about, like the "doze block," which I colored, as a reminder of how easy it would be to get in trouble.

Here are photos, for reference.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Great idea! I see you marked it with its purpose. I started doing this when I would look at a jig, in the early days, and try to remember what it was for. Also, the colored doze block is good! Thanks for sharing.


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## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

SRVDVM said:


> This looks well thought out, easy and practical. How much money do you save by making your own plugs?




Scott,
You just had to ask the obvious didn't you. I thought of it, but you said it. Kelly, it's guy's like you that I juat have to admire, good for you. 

Jerry


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Great tip Kelly...

The great advantage to doing something like this is the "color" of the wood. Making your own dowels from left overs/scraps from a project gives you the chance to match the wood color much, much better. The pockets may still be obvious, but not so much so...


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## SRVDVM (Nov 13, 2012)

Jerry, I had to ask the question. I've seen people build things only to find out it's cheaper just to buy the pre-made object or that it just takes way to long to make whatever it is. Now this jig is perfect - made out of scraps and allows you to cut cost by 20% +/- It also allows you to match wood as others have stated. Another advantage is that you can easily customize the length of the plug. I did a post on a flush trimming jig specifically to deal with these plugs - I just finished building 6 cabinets for the garage that used about 250 plugs. If I had to trim each one by hand with a saw, it would not have been any fun. The one drawback of the jig is that if you put a plug on the inside corner of a 90 degree joint, you can't get to it with the router/jig. Being able to make a shorter than stander plug is great for this situation. I just got my bandsaw a few weeks ago - this will be the first jig I build for it.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I'd love to see others' jigs, when they get them operational.




SRVDVM said:


> Jerry, I had to ask the question. I've seen people build things only to find out it's cheaper just to buy the pre-made object or that it just takes way to long to make whatever it is. Now this jig is perfect - made out of scraps and allows you to cut cost by 20% +/- It also allows you to match wood as others have stated. Another advantage is that you can easily customize the length of the plug. I did a post on a flush trimming jig specifically to deal with these plugs - I just finished building 6 cabinets for the garage that used about 250 plugs. If I had to trim each one by hand with a saw, it would not have been any fun. The one drawback of the jig is that if you put a plug on the inside corner of a 90 degree joint, you can't get to it with the router/jig. Being able to make a shorter than stander plug is great for this situation. I just got my bandsaw a few weeks ago - this will be the first jig I build for it.


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