Jim Sproul

[Jim Sproul]

Hi I am a new member and fairly new to turning so apologize if this has been answered already. If so please point me in the right direction and I will follow it up. I recently turned couple of big leaf maple burl bowl blanks and not surprisingly found a bunch of worm holes. i have figured out how to deal with the ones that go deep into the blank but am not sure how to deal with the ones that keep appearing on the surface. If I try to turn them out there are more deeper in. They are 1/16 or so deep and am wondering if there is something I can coat the blank with after cleaning all the worm damage, that will allow me to finish the surface without a bunch of grooves from the worms. Any suggestions are appreciated
cheer
js

 

[Brian Gustin]

Sounds like Ambrosia Maple.. some consider it a feature (Ambrosia is a premium figured lumber) I think I'd probably make the worm holes a feature of the design/pattern and just try to turn a bowl that doesn't leak.. LOL (but if ending up with holes all the way through, there's always 5-minute epoxy) Other than that, I know of no way to put wood back that has been taken out... I suppose you could glue in toothpicks or dowels.... but IMHO, that'd look horrible

 

[John Walls]

I leave them in, adds character. BUT, when I'm mostly done with turning, before I sand/finish, I throw in the micro-wave. It would stink to find it later sitting on your favorite table/whatnot and find tiny piles of sawdust appearing from nowhere I don't turn very thin if I'm going to nuke, it will sometimes go out of round and require touch up. 60 seconds, let cool, another 60 seconds. It also helps remove some moisture. You can fill the voids with clear epoxy or resin, or just lacquer a couple coats, dry a while, sand smooth, apply lacquer... keep up the cycle until the surface is smooth. I just (clear) epoxy big/deep holes. I like the worm damage for it's character.

Warning, other half may not appreciate the smell of nuked wood, some species can get downright.... pleasant smelling. That's why I had to replace her's with a new one but I got the old one in the shop now.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Hello JIm. Welcome to the forum. The purpose of this sub-forum is to introduce yourself, let us who you are, where you live, what lathe do you have etc. The question about the wormholes is better suited for the General Woodturning sub-forum. You will get lots of answers there.

 

[John Torchick]

Welcome!!!

 

[Bill Boehme]

Welcome to the forum, Jim. It's not a problem if a question has been asked before. The important thing is that your questions are answered. Every situation is unique so please don't hesitate to ask any question that you might have. As Emiliano mentioned, you will generally get more replies if you ask questions in the Woodturning Discussion forum or, if applicable, the Getting Started forum.