I wanted a plug cutter to cut wooden plugs for fret markers for a guitar I am working on. I with an old bolt.
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chopped up a 1/2″ stainless bolt
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turned the threads down to 3/8″ shank so it would fit in a collet
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made the other side shiny, bored the plug hole and tapered the cutting end
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clamped it sideways in the mill to cut the side chip clearance
To form the ‘flute’ of the cutter where the chips clear out, I made an angled clamp block. I just eyeballed the angle I wanted and drilled a hole in a block of aluminum. Then I band sawed through the hole so it would allow clamping. The position of the end mill was also eyeballed. Position seems pretty forgiving.
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fixture for holding the plug cutter at the right angle for cutting the ‘flute’
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on-end view of the flute being cut
Below is the confirmation that it works! I drilled a whole bunch of plugs close together. Then I used a piece of tape to hold them all together while I band sawed them off.
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future fret markers!
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
