Pegs

In our restoration projects, we always favor the re-use of all intact pegs.  All new pegs are split by hand with a froe and mallet and shaped with a drawknife on a shaving horse.  In the past, we have used sawn or turned pegs purchased from woodshops.

The problem with purchased pegs

We have found a number of problems with purchased pegs. More often than not, the pegs have not been quite the right size and required us to put time into shaving them down.  A bigger problem that we have found has been that the grain in the pegs either rises or runs out of the peg altogether.  By splitting the pegs by hand we are assured that the grain in our pegs is continuous.

What we use

We use oak, ash and locust for our pegstock and avoid species that shrink too much or are particularly attractive to powder post beetles.

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