Douglas fir balusters

[go4broke44]

I use those same douglas fir ballusters quite regularly.

I agree, it can be a real pain to through-drill with the hardness of the resin lines in the wood, I try to pick through the pile and grab the pieces with the smallest grain lines, I feel they machine the best.

The stuff is also a little harder than AYC, and seems to dull the tools faster, although I think thats partially them getting gummed up with the resin too.

Makes great plugs though, I fish mine in the canal a lot. Never had any issues with cracking, etc. - maybe you had a bad piece?

The one thing I really dislike about it though is that the density is not very consistant. You could have one balluster that weighs maybe 1lb, and the next one weighs like 5!

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by go4broke44

I use those same douglas fir ballusters quite regularly.

I agree, it can be a real pain to through-drill with the hardness of the resin lines in the wood, I try to pick through the pile and grab the pieces with the smallest grain lines, I feel they machine the best.

The stuff is also a little harder than AYC, and seems to dull the tools faster, although I think thats partially them getting gummed up with the resin too.

Makes great plugs though, I fish mine in the canal a lot. Never had any issues with cracking, etc. - maybe you had a bad piece?

The one thing I really dislike about it though is that the density is not very consistant. You could have one balluster that weighs maybe 1lb, and the next one weighs like 5!

Thanks, I noticed a lot of the same things, particularly the variation in weight, as well as the grain line diameters. Not sure why one of the bodies cracked, but its the only one in about 10 so far.
Also, the plug body feels ribbed after you sand it down a lot due the variation in density.

[Back Beach]

These plugs weighed in around 2.125 for the small one and 2.625 for the large. Small one gets a pikie 2 and large gets a pikie 3. Just pulled them both off the drying rack after 2 days and they look very good. Finished weights should be 2.5 oz for the small and 3oz for the large. Both get .250 belly weights.

[Back Beach]

This is the one that cracked around the holes, but it seems to be a superficial crack. Just to be safe, I'll keep this one in my bag once finished.