Durable fillers?

[Charlie Harley]

I have some gorgeous spalted maple that will make a great small table top. Unfortunately, there are a few natural gaps that need filled.

What is a good filler (epoxy maybe?) that can be dyed, sanded, and finished with polyurethane? I'd like a simple brown color.

How large of a gap and how durable are coffee grounds hardened with thin CA glue?

All help is much appreciated.

 

[GeorgeH]

I've heard that epoxy fillers work pretty well. I've never tried coloring epoxy but perhaps you can find some "start-up" info. on these pages:

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/sea...chform.x=18&searchform.y=12&searchform=Submit

http://www.sydneywoodturners.com.au/site/articles/techniques/epoxy.html

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

I've used epoxy with mixol tints and had good luck. I find that monochromatic fills don't look as good as multicolor. If you want something brown, try filling with a couple shades of brown with a few streaks of black.

CA will work also. I just finished filling a void on the rim of a wall hanging tonight. I used CA with small wood shavings (like the fine strands from a shear cut) and sanding dust from a couple different types of wood. Total piece is 14" diamter and I filled a 1" semicircular hole at the edge. Thickness after finish cuts and sanding is 1/16". It withstood turning and sanding and seems very durable. I make a point of incorporating strands in this type of patch. Same concept as glass fibers in fiberglass.

Ed

 

[Jake Debski]

Clear epoxy can be colored with all sorts of things. Chalk dust, various wood's sanding dust, powdered pigments and dyes, etc. Experiment a little, with things in and around the house and shop. I like the multi colors I can get from various barks these work equally well with epoxy and/or CA.

 

[Joe Greiner]

I've achieved a pleasing effect by mixing a "mortar" of clear epoxy and fresh coffee grounds (i.e. not used). The dark coffee stain leaches into the epoxy for a dark brown matrix, and the grinding process seems to expose some lighter elements within the ground coffee. After sanding, it almost looks like small-scale terrazzo. Do a sample first to help decide if it's satisfactory for your objectives.

[Here's an example:

http://n-fl-woodturners.org/images/2007-02/2007-02-15.jpg ]

Joe

 

[Mike Vickery]

Their are more methods then I am going to list but just to give you an idea of some of the ones I use
Epoxy colored ( I use artists inks a lot to color.
CA glue and sawdust
CA and emobossing powder
Ca and crushed stone
CA a coffe grounds

 

[Paul Engle]

I've used powdered coffee grounds with CA and epoxy , both ways work very well, the ca may be more durable but subject to fracture as it sets harder I believe , the epoxy durable but not quite as hard at full cure , best way is to try as many ways as you can let them set cure and give em a good going over with hammer, keys , children grandchildren ... etc see how they hold up.

 

[Jred]

Many people use coffee grounds. I prefer to use tea from cheap tea bags. I like the look a bit better. It looks a bit more natural to me.

 

[Al Neighbors]

Epoxy is more flexible than CA. CA will not expand or contract with wood movement. I've had CA/coffee ground fillers separate from the wood over time. :mad: Epoxy fillers I've used have never separated. I don't know if it has to do with the particular pieces I used it on or not, but I won't use CA on a large piece that may expand more than a smaller one.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.