What type of wood for Drawbore Pegs

[navakahn]

I'm going to drawbore the mortise tenon joints on a mission settle I've built in walnut. Never done these types of joints and am wondering if I should rive some straight grained walnut to make the pegs or if I should use something else -- maybe some straight grained red oak I have lying around?

Any reason not to use the walnut? I thought I read somewhere once that it's not ideal for pegs, but I can't recall when or where I read it or what the argument was -- too soft?

In any case, the pegs are going to be 3/8 inch.

Thanks, in advance, for your comments and wisdom!

[JR1]

Oak is traditional because of strength and stability. You can use dowels but they are much more difficult to use than rived wood.

[Scoony]

riven oak works great. Other hard woods have a tendency to break and crumble. Riven oak will bend around the off-set holes better.

After shaping the pegs, put them near a heat source to dry out. The goal is to get them dryer than the wood they will be pinned through. They will pick up moisture from the surrounding wood, swell up and lock-in place.

[John Clifford]

Preferably white oak.

[navakahn]

Thanks, guys, for the help.

Follow up question: I've read that waxing the pegs is a good idea. Would doing so prevent the pegs from absorbing the moisture.

[acacia]

I wax the ends I'm driving in first. I find that using an old school pencil sharpener is the easiest way to get a consistent and easy to drive peg, and then I wax that end.

I don't know how much it reduces water absorption but I imagine it does some. You're effectively blocking the "straw" openings on one end. If it's a blind hole (and you never see it again) the other end, which you'll probably saw and plane flush, will allow water in. If it goes through you plane off the wax anyway.

HTH

[eg54string]

Great hint. Thanks. I have used riven cherry. And some of the pegs did crush. I had to size them perfectly, and then did split some of the walnut I was driving them into. The joint was crowded and the pegs were stacked in line, however.



Eric.

[wmickley]

I have used walnut pins for walnut pieces for thirty years. On historic pieces I have never seen oak pins on walnut furniture, probably not on anything but oak itself.

I like to use the same wood for the pins as the rest of the joint. That way there is some give (crushing) in both the pin and the cheeks. A hard wood like hickory or white oak can damage the back side of a joint in a soft wood like white pine.

Warren

[navakahn]

Wow, thanks again, guys, for all of the comments and suggestions. Nice to have so much experience to draw on.

One more question: I'm using 3/8 pegs through 2.75 inch legs (1/2 inch tenons). Should the offset be right around 1/16? Or is that a bit much?

Do I use a smaller offset if I don't use drawbore pins to snug up the joint before using pegs? I gather that the metal drawbore pins will compress slightly the wood in the tenon (and thus elongate the hole a bit and make the offset a bit smaller).

Or am I over thinking all of this?

[acacia]

navakahn said:

---

Wow, thanks again, guys, for all of the comments and suggestions. Nice to have so much experience to draw on.

One more question: I'm using 3/8 pegs through 2.75 inch legs (1/2 inch tenons). Should the offset be right around 1/16? Or is that a bit much?

Do I use a smaller offset if I don't use drawbore pins to snug up the joint before using pegs? I gather that the metal drawbore pins will compress slightly the wood in the tenon (and thus elongate the hole a bit and make the offset a bit smaller).

Or am I over thinking all of this?

---

Yes, you are overthinking this. I was the exact same way 5 years ago. I think it was Janus Frey that told me to just make some pegs and whack them in there. He was right. I was building a roubo, not a space shuttle. With all the time I'd invested in those legs that wasn't clear to me.

1/16 to 3/32 is a nice range for drawbore offset. Drawbore pins are not necessary. Just get your tenons fitting sweetly with no gaps and you're fine.