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Online Tips Index / Finishing / Plugging Mortises Temporarily
Plugging Mortises Temporarily
Recently I was working on a project that had a series of slats that fit in
mortises. Because of the way the project was designed, it was easier to apply
the finish before assembling all the pieces. The trick was keeping the finish
out of the mortises — I wanted good glue joints later on.
To do this, I plugged each mortise temporarily with foam caulking rod, see photo. The caulking rod I used was slightly wider than the mortises. After the finish dried, I just removed the foam rod.
A twenty foot length of 3/8"-diameter caulking rod purchased from my local hardware store cost $2.50.
Gail Jeager
Rochester, New York
