Bright Bung Removal ?

[Willin']

Ok guys, I've tried to do my due diligence with no joy. There's a million posts on installing bungs eg. what wood, what orientation, what glue etc, but nary a word can I find on removal. So be gentle with me.

I've got a bright finished butterfly skylight that I let go a little too long and now needs wooding and refinishing. In order to get the bronze rods out and the glass off I'll need to remove a few highly visible bungs set in fairly narrow stock. The skylight is only about 5 years old and was built by a local apprenticeshop, so I'm optimistic that they're not epoxied in, but they aren't volunteering to come out either.

I'm thinking of drilling a small hole and prying out from the center. Does this sound feasible? Any more practical ideas? I really want this to be a refinish, not a rebuild, if possible.

TIA,

Mark

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l100/Hotrudderedbum/Drift/Mizzen017.jpg

[oakman]

Take a very sharp awl and drive it into the bung starting in the center and working out to the edges. Eventually the bung will collapse and you can start gently picking out the pieces. Just be careful not to mar the edges and provided they were not set with epoxy you will be fine. Set with epoxy and you need to loosen with heat.

oakman

[Ken Hutchins]

With a fostner bit drill a 'drill jig' in a scrap piece of wood.
Then clamp the 'drill jig' over the bungs being careful with the aligment the drill the bung out with the same bit.:)
I have made a bunch of the jigs some with several sizes so I never have to look to long to find one, most have made to trip in the bilges, so I gotta make more or clean the bilges.:(

[Hughman]

Cut the head off a drywall screw (grind it off, really) and chuck it up in your cordless. Drive it right into the bung until it fetches up on the fastener. It will spin the bung right out.

This is great when the bung was set in with something proper, like paint or varnish, but if you're trying to get epoxied bungs out, you will have to have a heat gun in the other hand....:eek:

[Ian McColgin]

Oakman is right, it's just the same way as dmb bung removal.

I take it the bungs cover the ends of the bronze rods. This is a bit unusual - generally the rods are simply slid in with their ends flush with one end of the skylight frame. Yet you must be sure that it's bungs you see, not bronze, as you must have poked a bit.

Even so, I'd put a hole just a hair smaller than the rod in some hard wood, cut along the length and have the finished bit say two inches long. This can be put over a rod and gripped really hard with a couple pairs of vice-grips. Twist a little to free the rod in it's holes and then gently tap against the wood to drive the rod out. It should take the bung neatly with it.

For reassembly, I'd stretch the rods and omit the bungs. Heheheh.

G'luck

[Willin']

Oakman is right, it's just the same way as dmb bung removal.

I take it the bungs cover the ends of the bronze rods. This is a bit unusual - generally the rods are simply slid in with their ends flush with one end of the skylight frame. Yet you must be sure that it's bungs you see, not bronze, as you must have poked a bit.

Even so, I'd put a hole just a hair smaller than the rod in some hard wood, cut along the length and have the finished bit say two inches long. This can be put over a rod and gripped really hard with a couple pairs of vice-grips. Twist a little to free the rod in it's holes and then gently tap against the wood to drive the rod out. It should take the bung neatly with it.

For reassembly, I'd stretch the rods and omit the bungs. Heheheh.

G'luck

LOL Ian,

Actually, the bungs are in the thin transverse strips that support the rods. They pass through the middle one and butt into the end ones. The rod ends are blind.

I'm trying to lift the three strips w/ rods off . The end strips have 4 screws each, the middle one has 2.

I think I have enough good advice here to keep me out of serious trouble. Thanks very much, all.

[JimConlin]

What Hugh said. I'd sand or scrape any finish off first. This will reduce the probability that the fragments of the bung will split out the margins of the hole as they're screwed out and keep the surface flatter.

[StevenBauer]

And if you do tear out some adjacent wood you can use Ken's technique to enlarge the hole for the next size up plug.


Steven

[Jay Greer]

Here is the method that works best for me. I have several junk chisels in my kit that I save just for bung removal. Mine are plastic handled quarter inch cheapos from Sears. I have reduced the width of two of them to handle smaller plugs. With using a light steel tack hammer and a sharp chisel. I work from the center of the plug (cross grain) as though I were chopping a mortise. The steel tack hammer produces a sharp blow that often will shatter the glue line. This literally carves out the center of the plug and allows me to gently cut away any residual glue. Usually the chisel will hit the fastening and go dull.
That is why I keep several chisels handy. I like this method because it does not cause the plug to expand as the chisel chops the material away and avoids damaging the surrounding wood.
Jay

[JeffSteele]

i just take a flat head screw dirve then whack it in there and then turn. this will hopefully remove enough of the bung to the point where you can get to the fastener