Removing and replacing plugs

Going to take out the plugs and refinish the transom teak and the deck handrails. Read several posts about removing the plugs and it looks like the most popular is to put a screw in the center to lift the plug out when the screw hits the screw that is under the plug. Alternatively, several posts state better to drill out the plug, then remove remaining plug with a chisel. Any thoughts? Also, when I replace in the spring, what is best way to get plugs back in and smooth?

Brian,
I have found that any of the ways you mention work fine. The key is to avoid enlarging the plug hole if possible. Another technique that often works very well is to drill a hole in the center of the old plug just large enough for your screwdriver. Then begin backing out the screw. As you do that, the screw will often lift out the remainder of the plug as it comes out. If you do accidentally enlarge the plug hole, don’t despair. Simply drill a larger hole and use a larger plug.
As for replugging...although you can buy a bag of teak plugs, I often prefer to make my own. I do this especially if I am replacing wood so the plugs come from the same board and match well. You can buy plug cutting bits for a drill that make tapered plugs that will fill a slightly enlarged old plug hole. You can buy the next size up if you might need one. The tapered plugs hammer in tightly and are best with a bit of glue of your choice. My current choice is Titebond III, though epoxy or other glues are fine. With a tight fitting tapered plug often no glue is needed and varnish on top will help to secure it. There is no right or wrong way. Try to align the grain of the plug with the wood substrate as you insert it. A sharp chisel or a flexible Japanese pull saw will cut it off. If you cut it a bit proud, sand paper will finish it perfectly. The only annoying thing about this process is that you need to apply more varnish with the wood replaced so the plugs match.
Good luck!
Mike Jacker

I was taught to use a bit of varnish to "glue" plugs. Actual glue--well, a plug isn't supposed to be permanent.

Somewhere, I learned to drill a tiny hole in the plug, then inject water into the cavity with a hypodermic syringe. Then go away and do something else for a while. When you come back, it may be possible to jimmy the plug out with a dissecting probe. It seems to work about two thirds of the time with Ericson plugs, within my level patience. I think this was supposed to be a way to recover and re-use the plug. Though I usually don't.

dipping the new plug in varnish works just fine. It does not take much to keep a plug in place and as mentioned, and you do want the option of removing it at some future point without major surgery. Regarding removal of plugs, I strongly advise against the drilling a hole/inserting a headless screw to back out method. It does pull the plug out but invariably also brings up splinters of good wood that then has to be repaired and refinished. What works quite well is drilling a hole in the center about half the diameter of the plug and tapping into the remaining wood with a thin blade screwdriver or awl and prying up gently in several places and the plug will pop out easily with no damage.

Right, plugs should come out easily in a few pieces. That's the "hole idea."

If the plug was glued in, it won't leave a clean hole when it comes out.

In such case, or if we manage to muck up the existing hole by other means, a larger plug is required to hide the damage.

Insert a plug into the injured hole and drill it out with a larger-sized Forstner bit.

This is another argument for owning a few plug cutters--which also happens to be cheaper than buying bags of pre-cut plugs.

If you have a lot of these to do it's hard to beat the screw method. But grind the head off the screw and chuck it up in your electric drill. It does work a little better to pre drill the plug with a pilot hole (same size you would use for the size wood screw you are using to remove the plug) that way the plugs tend to come out whole instead of breaking in half.

Just finished doing this with the panels in the head on my E35 and didn't have a single plug that didn't come out cleanly. I probably removed about 2 dozen plugs in under 5 minutes this way (including the time to switch from drill bit to screw).

Kevin Wright
E35 Hydro Therapy