Installing the Plug into Your Nantucket Lightship Basket Base
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With fine sandpaper sand one end of the plug flush.
Test fit the plug into the hole in your base. If the plug is too large, sand the plug to make it smaller in diameter.
Place glue on the sides of the plug.
Gently tap the plug into the hole from the outside of your basket base until the flush end of the plug is flush with the base on the inside of the basket.
Wipe off any excess glue and let the glue dry.
Cover the base with masking tape to protect it.
Using a fine-tooth saw, cut off the end of the plug as close to the base as you can.
Remove the masking tape and sand plug flush with the base, sanding with the grain.*
*Before sanding, you may also shave the plug flush using a blade removed from a box cutter. (These are the blades that you snap off when they get dull). A small, narrow, blade works better than a large blade. Wear gloves to protect your hands from the blade. Carefully shave the end of the plug with the blade until plug is flush with the base on the outside of your basket. Bend the blade slightly as you work so that you are shaving the plug only and not the base.
Sand across plug and base on the outside of your basket, sanding with the grain of the wood.
