Getting bigger and bigger, by now he's probably just replaced it with a board without a knot! The previous one is become sawdust - the fate of all imperfect woods
He is using the bit to mark out the size for the plug, then he knows that plug is 1:1 with the hole. If you do it with the pantarouter you have two setups and you will introduce some amount of error. Think back to times he makes mortise and tenon joints and then sometimes has a loose/tight fit on the test cut. The method in this video is a pretty surefire quick way to get it right first shot.
Better question is why not simply use a dowel? If you want a closer match then dowel bit. I was hoping for a faster way or a way with fewer tools for when your in a pinch. Can’t win them all when you click on posted videos.
My Grandfather, was a carpenter who worked back in the days when he would bring home 2 to 3 dollars a day, use to cut out the knots in plywood in the shape of an eye. He would fashion an eye shaped plug and call the patch a "Dutchman". I've been attempting this feat, but I like your patch/plug system much better. Gramps only got electric power tools in the early 60's. Great video Matthias, thumbs up.
Dutchman patches are easier to hide. The ones I've seen are diamond shaped. Something about straight lines not catching the eye as much as a round plug does 🤷♂️
In the lodge we stayed in whilst on holiday in Poland all the knots in the wood floors were replaced with what looked like dowels made from turned branches with end grain showing. It looked incredible, like knots without the dark wood and potential sap (it was all pine).
Yeah, the fanciest tool is not every time the right tool... ^^ And you are right, epoxy is everywhere on YT. Good to see someone sticking to the "old" way. Keep up your nice work and stay healthy, greetings from Germany.
Would notching the plug allow for all the air to escape from the hole? My thinking is that the excess glue would fill such a notch making it difficult to detect.
Someone may have already said this, but if your plug could be some kind of wood with a minimally visible grain, then you could blend it in with some acrylic paint and an artist's brush by matching the surrounding grain's color and shape.
Very useful! Thanks for sharing! This is going to really help my project. Going to thumbs up and subscribe to help your channel as well as see your future ideas!
Best way I’ve seen for a perfect plug is to lightly bevel the cylinder shape so it wedges in there. Works with any shape of plug too, even the classic hand-chiseled Dutchmen which is my favorite way to plug these
Highlight with Epoxy? Remove and plug it while still beeing perfectly visible? What about the lazy attempt (mine) and just leave it be and go on with the build? It´s nature after all.
I'm here for the lack of poncy frufru and MW delivers every time. Thank you. I can't wait for ten years to go by and these epoxy laden stuff to start looking dated like terrible brown 70s furniture from my childhood.
and then there are people who collect and dry branches of different sizes to cut knot covers out of that still kind of look like a knot but, without color issues
I thought the brief epoxy trash talk was amusing. I thought the epoxy projects were neat for like a minute, but became everyone and their brother covering anything in a gallon of epoxy. yikes.
Knots in wood tend to be unstable, they can often have small voids inside or shrink enough during drying that they can just fall out. You can work around a knot and turn it into a design choice, but if you want dimensional stability you have to fill it with something that will compensate for the knot wood's weakness. Most people use epoxy, Matthias demoed a slightly older stabilization method in the video. Traditionally woodworkers would cut around & discard knots entirely, just to avoid the headache.
Oh c'mon Matthias. I'm sure if you put your mind to it you could figure out 50 ways to patch a board with a defect larger than your largest Forstner bit. Paul Simon wrote that there are 50 ways to leave your lover and patching a board is a lot easier than that.