Anyone ever tried replacing cylinder pegs in a cabinet? : (

[Bob E.]

Well, that second picture changes a lot of things, at least from my point of view. You could simply take your choice of hole-saw and fearlessly cut those holes all the way through. Give the disks to your cat for kitchen-floor hockey games.

Then, if you can accommodate a little extra thickness to the shelves, glue on a layer of veneer to the bottom of the shelf to provide bottoms for the holes. Clean up the tops of any remaining old glue, then glue your replacement pegs into the holes. No one will know that they are sunk into circular craters rather than circular channels. If the thickness requirement of the shelf is unforgiving, take the shelves to a well-equipped wood shop and have the bottoms planed off the requisite amount, then proceed as above with the veneer bottoms.

Stain the veneer bottoms with a dark stain, and discourage folks from getting down on their hands and knees to admire your cabinet!

--Bob

[Brad]

I would be leery about using the adjustable hole saw.

Brad,

Thanks for your reply of concern and help. I had wondered about the adjustable hole saw for my particular application as well. I've not yet purchased one. The pricing certainly seems reasonable but I began to wonder about those 2 cutters revolving at (relative) high speed. I have no doubt that it worked well for Curt and in no way am I implying any discredit for his valued input and help. I guess I would prefer to see one in actual use to determine whether it might work well for my particular application.

I had also thought about that drill pilot hole being hidden by the peg itself once it is in place. But I am trying my best to retain the originality of the drawer bottoms...

Which begs the question: "How in the world were these circular peg holes (that have no drill pilot hole) done originally?" Any ideas? Anyone?

...
- Doug

The reason I would be concerned about using the adjustable hole saw is due to the dry/fragile nature of the plywood. The wood is (obviously) very old and very the dry. The glue used is weak and degraded. I would be worried about it splitting and tearing. New plywood inherently has more moisture and stronger glue. I would expect some tearout, but it would be localized.

The original circular hole would have been cut by a circular saw on a very massive low vibration drill press.

[Curt A]

Actually, I agree with Brad about using a Forstner bit. A Forster bit drills flat bottomed holes, not like a regular drill bit and if you set the depth gauge on your drill press it would work fine without going all the way through - and it is much safer. I didn't think of them when I answered your inquiry, but knew a standard hole saw didn't come in the correct size - I need to check what size Forstners I have. Forstners cost quite a bit compared to hole saws, but if you are only going to use one occasionally, I would check Harbor Freight.

I am restoring the same Herzog cabinet as Brad's, but have not completed it or made the shelves yet. I have used the adjustable hole saw without the center bit and had no problem, but it is a little tricky to hold the piece steady and to keep it from rotating - I clamp the piece to the drill press table. That being said, it does a great job of cutting holes in wood and doesn't tear anything, since the blades are rotated opposite ways, which give the effect of kerfing on a wood saw, much better than most hole saws, but it is dangerous to use (you wouldn't want to wear a necktie while working with it...).

Brad, your restoration turned out great and I will probably use some of your clamping ideas. As far as numbering goes, I do not have a steady hand for trying to hand stamp individual numbers up to 147, so I made the templates, which were copied from original numbers in a cylinder suitcase type box. If you punch them out with a 1 ½" craft punch, they turn out perfect and are easy to glue on the domed tops. I will try to put up a pic of the completed cylinder box.

[Brad]

....

Brad, your restoration turned out great and I will probably use some of your clamping ideas. As far as numbering goes, I do not have a steady hand for trying to hand stamp individual numbers up to 147, so I made the templates, which were copied from original numbers in a cylinder suitcase type box. If you punch them out with a 1 ½" craft punch, they turn out perfect and are easy to glue on the domed tops. I will try to put up a pic of the completed cylinder box.

Hand stamping was a bit of challenge. I purchased the stamp pads and glued them to small woodend blocks (you can see them in my pictures). On my other Herzog cabinet with original pegs, the numbers were hand stamped and had some variation in consistency, so I went that way to acheive the same results. What I did was line up the pegs in rows and stamped all the "1's in the first position, then the "2's" and so on. What I learned, painfully, is that the little wooden blocks, while easy to hold, had sharp edges that after a while started digging into my fingers and the small size fatigued and hurt to hold after a while. If I were to do it again, I would glue a short length of dowel to give a easier handle to hold onto.

I am not familiar with a craft punch. Post a picture of it when you post pictures, I am curious.

[Bob]

Brad, Your stamping came out great. Do you remember where you got the stamps and what size and font are the numbers? Thanks, Bob

[Brad]

Brad, Your stamping came out great. Do you remember where you got the stamps and what size and font are the numbers? Thanks, Bob

Thanks Bob. Unfortunately, you are about 2 weeks late . I was cleaning out my email inbox (over 15000 old emails) and I remember seeing it and decided to delete it.

I googled for a few minutes to see if I could recognize the site, but could not.

What I do remember was that there was only one place that had the font and character height (size) I needed. I don't remember the font, but you should be able to match up my pictures with the online catalogs. The "5" is the most destinctive. I hope to be out in my shop sometime this week and I will take a look at the stamps and see if any of the original packaging is there.

[Bob]

Thanks Brad, I have been looking online and can't seem to find it. The search is on. Bob

[ambrola]

I have. In fact, I built 50 Herzog half barrel cabinets a few years back. Some of them are still around.

These were some of the first ones. I cant find a pic with the door open. I still have some cobbs and shelves.

[ambrola]

I did find one picture when I was in the developing stage. You can see these cobbs are not in line or numbered like the finished ones were.

Here are a few more cabinets,

[JohnM]

Hide glue (not "hyde" -- the glue is made from animal hides and other collagen), is easily soluble in the presence of hot water. It is used by stringed musical instrument builders for three reasons: it sets rock-hard; it sets when cool (not dry); and, it is reversible -- that is, if an instrument needs repair, the hide glue can be softened and the instrument taken apart.

Simply hook up a length of high-temp automotive hose to a teakettle spout. Fill the teakettle with water and place on a hot plate with a bungee cord wrapped around the whole thing to keep the kettle in place while you work. For relatively narrow areas like these circular grooves, step down the hose diameter to a length of small diameter copper tubing or even a ball inflation nozzle. The hardened hide glue will turn to jelly when exposed to the water vapor coming from the hose. Be sure not to use any vessel that pressure can build in when the water is heated. Wear gloves, and have lots of towels to soak up the condensate.

Those circular channels were probably cut with a double-headed circle cutter which used scoring blades on one end of the arm and a rabbeting blade to hog out the bulk of the wood. They behave differently than a hole saw when they meet wood in that the scoring blades cut into the wood just ahead of the rabbeting blade allowing the bit to not have to fight the grain of the wood.