In square holes!  Okay, so not so new.  In fact, it’s a classic Greene and Greene detail from the Craftsman era.

My latest project, the privacy screen, incorporates this detail of square ebony plugs at the joints.  The dirty little secret is that although they look like they’re meant to secure the mortise and tenon joint, they are in fact, strictly decorative.

I don’t plan to do a lot of “how to” posts here as there are plenty of more qualified folks who do that on the web.  In fact, the technique that I use for making the plugs is one described by Darrel Peart, the consummate authority on the manufacture of Greene and Greene detail.  My plugs are a little more pronounced than the original, as described by Darrel, but I’m not making a reproduction, and that’s the way I like them.

I have created a short photo (17 photos) essay of how I make and insert the plugs for those of you who might be interested.  You can find it here.

The privacy screen in nearly done, my next post will hopefully be the one to show it off.

Cheers,
Tom