Through a thin piece of card cut a hole large enough to allow the head of
the plug to protrude, place it in the block to protect the engraving, then
cut off the projecting head close to the card with a fine saw. By means of
the scauper and card, always cutting towards the centre, lower the
remaining projection until nearly level with surrounding surface, and
finish off with the chisel laid flat on the block. An excellent tool with
which to get the plug level is a fine tint-tool laid on its side and used
as a chisel, chisel or tint-tool being used in a slicing movement and not
driven.
Two or three plugging nails, made ready and kept for the purpose, will be
all that are required for smaller plugs. The holes can also be made by
drills such as are used for fretwork. Larger plugs must be scauped or
chiselled out, taking care that the sides go straight down and that the
edges are without a bruise. The larger the plug, the deeper must be the
hole, the depth for large plugs being half-way through the block. Plugs on
the extreme edge of the block require more care but the difficulties can
nearly always be overcome by a little ingenuity. A drop of water placed on
a bruise will often bring it to the surface again. Hot water is still more
effective, while, if the bruising is deep and general, steaming the whole
surface is the best method though it makes the wood rotten and
disagreeable to cut on afterwards.