Any tips on re-drilling wood plug holes.

[BAD ORCA]

I have taken some teak molding pieces off around the floor in the hallway/head. The wood plug/bung holes got reasonably mangled trying to get at the old screws and will need to be re-drilled one size larger.

Is my only option to try and hammer in another wood plug and use that as a solid surface to re-drill with Forsner drill, or is there another clever way without having to do this?

I'm going to re-varnish them and re-use.

 

[dmax]

Best to not mangle when removing the bungs - next time, drill a small hole in the center and drive a screw in till it pops out. Putting in oversized bungs would probably be the best route now - it would be good to use a drill press to oversize the existing holes for accuracy.

 

[Foswick]

If I am understanding your situation, correctly, you could mix saw dust with epoxy for about a toothpaste consistency and completely fill the mangled holes. Then, redrill (and sand of course). This will give you an OK-ish result, if you get your new hole exactly where the old hole was. But the edges around the hole (in the previously-mangled bits) will always age differently than the bare wood - resulting in somewhat of an outline around the bung. But, it will be structurally sound.

If you're varnishing, the repair would be pretty much invisible.

 

[Dave Satter]

A Fuller countersink drill bit, next size up. Should work. If you have to fill and redrill. Minwax high performance wood filler . It's thick and will dry in 10 minutes.

 

[BAD ORCA]

Best to not mangle when removing the bungs - next time, drill a small hole in the center and drive a screw in till it pops out. Putting in oversized bungs would probably be the best route now - it would be good to use a drill press to oversize the existing holes for accuracy.

I tried that. There was too much varnish on them. They wouldn't budge. In hindsight, I would sand it off first next time. I do have a drill press.

 

[BAD ORCA]

If I am understanding your situation, correctly, you could mix saw dust with epoxy for about a toothpaste consistency and completely fill the mangled holes. Then, redrill (and sand of course). This will give you an OK-ish result, if you get your new hole exactly where the old hole was. But the edges around the hole (in the previously-mangled bits) will always age differently than the bare wood - resulting in somewhat of an outline around the bung. But, it will be structurally sound.

If you're varnishing, the repair would be pretty much invisible.

Thats a good idea. I dont know why I didnt think of this. I thought of filling them, but I have not found a decent wood filler that looks good in teak. I actually dont need to re-use the same holes though for securing the trim, and i have a full container of teak dust i saved from routing teak pieces once that i completely forgot i had. I think im going to drill out the mangled holes with a standard drill bit or countersink to clean up the edges and fill them in with this mix on one piece to see how it looks. It may look a little darker, but i'm perfectly happy with an old boat having its scars and dings, so long as they are properly repaired. Some of the holes are very close to the edge of the trim. I was worried i might ruin the trim piece trying to upsize the hole.

 

[BAD ORCA]

A Fuller countersink drill bit, next size up. Should work. If you have to fill and redrill. Minwax high performance wood filler . It's thick and will dry in 10 minutes.

good to know. thank you! My bung/plug cutter set has some of those. I will have to check and see if they match the size of the plugs that i can cut with them. I have only used it a couple of times though so not sure.

 

[jssailem]

I had a similar experience with my on deck hand holds. Learned that you need to do all of the sanding work prior to beginning to finish if you want to get the filled holes to “nearly disappear”. Mine did not. This season I will refinish the hand holds with he bung holes filled with bungs that have the grain oriented to the grain of the hand hold (as much as possible. Then I’ll begin the refinish.

 

[sailcapt340]

and i have a full container of teak dust i saved

Good Practice to have. I’ve got a collection of sawdust from a variety of my wood working projects. Comes in handy.
This has seen better days but hangs in my shop….

 

[BAD ORCA]

Good Practice to have. I’ve got a collection of sawdust from a variety of my wood working projects. Comes in handy.
This has seen better days but hangs in my shop….
View attachment 234486

lol... I found that a table router and a flush trim bit make very copious amounts of super fine saw dust.

 

[BAD ORCA]

I had a similar experience with my on deck hand holds. Learned that you need to do all of the sanding work prior to beginning to finish if you want to get the filled holes to “nearly disappear”. Mine did not. This season I will refinish the hand holds with he bung holes filled with bungs that have the grain oriented to the grain of the hand hold (as much as possible. Then I’ll begin the refinish.

Yeah my exterior wood is coming up for varnish. Luckily i have hand scrapped off all the varnish and most of the bung are very thin and are popping right out with very clean holes. Unfortunately, the toe rail holes are too thin to put bungs in on many of them, and i will have to resort to filled resin. The interior has years of multiple layers of varnish layered on top of layer, so was pretty thick.

 

[sailcapt340]

Keeping the sawdust from prior woodworking projects is a good practice to get into. More so in the boat world. Wood interiors cannot be matched and I would say anyone would be hard pressed to find a match, given the fact that all we have now is big box stores. When I cut out the opening in my boat to mount a new VHF radio I kept the piece. I just have to get to separating the veneer from the underlay plywood. I have two small holes to fill this winter.
Empty pill bottles work well and keep the remnants well sealed until you need them.

 

[BAD ORCA]

Keeping the sawdust from prior woodworking projects is a good practice to get into. More so in the boat world. Wood interiors cannot be matched and I would say anyone would be hard pressed to find a match, given the fact that all we have now is big box stores. When I cut out the opening in my boat to mount a new VHF radio I kept the piece. I just have to get to separating the veneer from the underlay plywood. I have two small holes to fill this winter.View attachment 234489
Empty pill bottles work well and keep the remnants well sealed until you need them.

Yeah i know what you mean. My boat interior is entirely Burmese Teak. I accidentally threw away a very important trim piece/panel in the hallway and am now trying to find a nice piece of veneer to match.