Riven, not sawn

A peg is the smallest part of a piece of furniture and the only one under sustained bending load. It is also the part most people would happily buy by the bag.

Sawn dowel is cut from a board without regard for where the grain runs. Somewhere along a 60 mm shaft the grain will run out through the side, and that is where it snaps — usually about four taps in, with half the peg stuck in the joint.

Riven stock is split rather than cut, so the split follows the grain and the grain therefore runs the full length of every peg. It is slower, it wastes more oak, and it is the difference between a peg that bends into a 2 mm offset and one that shears in it.

We cut ours a little over-size and leave them square at the head until they are driven. A peg that goes in under thumb pressure is not doing any work.