Filling Wood Cracks

Bjarte has a valid point. There are some cracks which just are not worth filling, though some respond well. Art is in making the choice.

I vary my approach a bit, depending on the nature of the crack. Say it's an open pocket near a branch, or a bark pocket in a burl, and I want it filled. I spritz with CA hardener, then run some water-thin into the unknown to firm up what I only suspect. I then add a layer of medium thickness CA, and pack in ground bark. The viscosity of the glue and the presence of the hardener keep the fill from becoming a dark piece of acrylic. Larger areas sometimes receive large pieces of the appropriate bark, stuffed in proper orientation, firmed with CA.

You can fill small surface checks with fine sanding dust of appropriate color - pays to keep a few pill bottles about with some dust - without worry about telegraphing through the finish. I use the three-stage process with these, as well.

The ones which aren't worth filling are the ones you failed to notice radiating from the heart (pith) when you turned, and discover later. There's no stopping these, so you can quickly turn the rim down below the last point, making a shallower bowl, or use it and your curses to warm yourself. Truth be known, trying to control one of these "in the green" is just likely enough to succeed to keep us trying. Wind shakes are sometimes salvageable.

Sometimes we make pieces for "art" sake which beg for cracks, knowing that sometimes we can get away with them. Pieces including the heart fall in this category. I cut a beech branch into a through-and through bowl the other night, knowing it might check on the outside and destroy itself. We can put some water-thin CA or one of the polys in the area we know is prone, but, like concrete, sometimes it cracks in spite of our best efforts.

Hi

Looking for additional Knowledge! Newbie here! What do most of you people use to fill cracks? i,ve tried filling with the sawdust and crazy glue. Problem is the glue is very hard to sand afterwards.Can you tell me some of your techniques. Also do you alway try to glue the cracks before they expand further.

Thanks Keith

I'll often use key shavings (from where they duplicate keys). I just pack the filings in, and secure w/water thin CA. Works well, looks a treat. I don't know that it adds much structural integrity but that's not usually the issue...

...Kevin

I use finely ground coffee and CA.

--------------------------------------------------------- One thing I have used is bras shavings from the local key shop.Free most of the time especially if you offer to sweep it up for them. ads a decretive touch to some things.

Just fill the crack with CA, sprinkle in the shavings, recote with CA let dry and sand off..with the lathe

Another option is gem stone sand. like Turquoise . (place small turquoise pebbles inside a folded piece of typing paper. smack it with a hammer. fill like my description above. sometimes I purposely cut grooves to use turquoise. looks especially good on Deer or elk antler pins.

Mike

That's an interesting approach. Do you just like the dark contrast or what? Is an espresso grind about right?

...Kevin

Kevin,

I've been fooling around with a spalted wild cherry box. It developed a split in some really dark part of the wood. (A bark inclusion?) I took what ever coffee that was on hand and put a little on a hard surface. Used the cylindrical outside of my live center as a roller and crushed the coffee into a powder. Pushed this into the split and drizzled on some CA and the problem was gone. Coffee was almost a perfect match for the wood.

Hope this helps,

Harry

Hi Kevin

I have tried the ground coffee, filling a small hole (branch not there anymore kind off hole) it looks good, the only thing I found was it is kind of soft, so you have to watch the sanding or you have to start over again. I used just normal drip filter grind coffee.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Millers wrote:

Question?

Left over or un perked coffee. Any preference. Doesn,t the CA harden it anyway?

Don't know Keith, it might work with used coffee, I just used dry ground coffee. I don't like the sloppy stuff

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Keith Young wrote:

I've used 5 minute epoxy and sanding dust from the same wood I'm working with. I mix up enough epoxy, and mix in enough dust to make a thickish paste. The 5 minute type of epoxy gives me enough time to work, but not so long that I have to wait forever to work the piece.

****************************** Got wood? Check out my exotic hardwood pennywhistles at fair prices...

I bought some 'glitter' in a dispenser bottle, (I think it is mixed with some sort of liquid glue) at the local Michael's Craft shop. It comes in various colours. Depending on the crack, I fill the crack with the dispenser nozzel then saturate the area with thin ca. This seems to hold just fine and you can vary the colour to suit. The ca glue does not seem to affect the glitter material and, so far, it has worn well. I have not tried this with larger cracks or pits but I cannot see why it wouldn't work just as well.

If it is a bottle stopper I'm making, I finish it with water borne lacquer and this puts a layer of finish over the filling. I finish other forms with more traditional coverings such as blo and thinner and this works ok.

I have tried filling cracks with key filings and I have found that this works best on small cracks; didn't look good at all on larger cracks, pits and voids.

fwiw, Tom

I've had great success with powdered or crushed stone - I use malachite and chrysocola. For larger voids (up to 1/2") i drip in some thick CA, then set in crushed stone. I cover this with the fine crushings or powder, and drizzle on the water-thin CA. I use scrapers to cut the excess back - adds some very nice color and interest.

One tip from experience - get the outside shape as close to finish as possible before filling. You can scrape and sand the stone back to the surface of the wood pretty easily, but cutting through the stone and the wood to change the shape is a lot of work!

I got my stone from a place called "Arizona Sillhouettte" - I found them on-line at

usual disclaimers - I have no connection to them, satisfied customer only. Enjoy!

Ron Williams Minn-Dak Woodturners Moorhead, MN

I use calcium carbonate, it's the stuff used to "pour" the white lines on football fields etc. In stained glass supply stores it's called whiting, it's extremely fine (rated in microns, wear a decent dust mask!!!) and usually mixed to a paste with [boiled] linseed oil to putty stained glass panels. Never tried it with CA but can't see any reason for that not to work, should come out looking snow white that way.

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