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Durable fillers?

C

Charlie Harley

Joined
Jun 20, 2006
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Location
Cincinnati, OH
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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. :D
 
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