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Oops. "someone" drilled a deep hole in the wrong place when roughing. Help

Joined
Oct 21, 2024
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Location
Springfield, Ohio
Oops – “someone” drilled a deep hole in the wrong place when roughing. The photo shows the roughed bowl ready for final turning with a 3/8 drill hole essentially all the way through. For reference, the overall dimensions are:8 ¾” x 5” H ~ 1" thick rough. This is one of only two crotch blanks from the tree of a friend and has good figure (without the seal on it) so I’d like to save it.

First thought: fill with a wood plug of something. Preferably face gain so end grain in not sticking out of bottom. Likely a contrasting wood. Might be hard to get a good fit. Also thinking of adding a secondary “decorative plug” to the base to make it look more intentional and less like a through plugs. Ideas are e.g. a coin, a different wood, with or without a carving in it. Perhaps a larger plug, say 3/4" to look more like part of the design.

One concern is to get a good fit between the plug(s) and the hole.
Thanks.
Lary
 

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I would turn a mushroom shaped knob for it, with a tenon. The base of the knob would cover the hole. You could "wedge" the tenon in place, make sure to have the wedge at a right angle to the long/end grain. I wouldn't worry about the top matching the bottom. You will need a knob of some sort for lifting the lid off.

robo hippy
 
I'd vote with Bob - Plug cutters, drilled out of a matching grain board , they come out tapered so they'll make a nice tight fit to the hole, then you can back-fill the hole from other side with dowel - Although I probably would not do the repair until just before doing the finish cuts...
 
You could do what I did:

image-jpeg.21753


Make it an intentional feature to wash your Wheaties down the drain. :)

Or, repurpose it as the lid of a box and use the hole for the tenon on a knob.

Or make a very large spin-top.

Or, count it as a CEU in your woodturning education.
 
You could do what I did:

image-jpeg.21753


Make it an intentional feature to wash your Wheaties down the drain. :)

Or, repurpose it as the lid of a box and use the hole for the tenon on a knob.

Or make a very large spin-top.

Or, count it as a CEU in your woodturning education.
I got a good chuckle out of this one. Do your CEUs count for AIA credit? 😜
 
Lary,

(oops, wrote this yesterday, forgot to post. Some thoughts. Maybe you already have it figured out.)

When a student or visitor in my shop does something they regret, I get out my Box-‘O-Shame and show them some of my goofs. Doesn’t help their problem but maybe makes them feel a bit better! Ain’t a turner/woodworker/metalworker/painter/potter alive or previously alive who didn’t make or do something by mistake. Since I mostly turn small things, my mistakes are often unfixable and go into the shame box.

In the case of the hole, I’d absolutely try a fix. I have plug cutters but they often don’t cut cleanly. Instead I’d try to find a small piece with the same color, grain, look, and turn a small face-grain plug to fit. Perhaps there is an offcut or another small chunk of the same or similar log/blank. Turn a small filler piece, (glue to a tiny waste block if needed) paying attention to the rings/figure/grain orientation. I’d make it gently tapered. If the hole is not tapered, it could easily be tapered on the lathe or with a reamer - I keep a box of reamers of different sizes and tapers for wood and metal work.

If the wood is wet, I’d wait until it was well dried. If the hole went out of round or the sides were rough, a long, gently tapered reamer could prep. A bit of shellac-based or cellulose sanding sealer in the hole could help stiffen the fibers. If the piece will be final turned after drying and the tenon removed and the inside thinned, I’d wait until that was done, leaving a whisper of extra wood to smooth down after the plug is glued in. If the final base is thick enough, two plugs might be appropriate. If thin, a single smoothly tapered hole and a single turned plug might be easier. Might have to sneak up on the taper to get a good fit. I don’t think I’d use thin CA glue since it could soak into the grain and stain the wood.

If appropriate, some turned decoration on the bottom could hide the joint.

If that tenon will be turned away, another possibility is to remove a few appropriate chips of wood from the tenon before turning it away, glue in ashort plug of almost any wood, then cut the a chip with a scalpel or something to exactly fit the hole, then sand it flat.

One trick John Lucas taught me might work here to hide any small visual discontinuity at the glue line. I’ve used it to fill tiny defects such as a small chip missing: apply a drop of thin CA to a medium fine strip of sandpaper (maybe 400 or coarser) and wet sand the area. The sandpaper picks picks up sawdust from that area, mixes with the film of CA from the sandpaper, then forces it into any small defect. Try this on scrap first - it can make barely visible seams invisible.

Don’t know if appropriate for this piece, but a brute force fix might work - we last used it on a student’s box where the bottom was cut deeper than the wood! Cut out a larger hole and glued in a larger plug from a completely dissimilar wood. In the box case, we added the same wood to the center of the lid to create a visual balance. This wouldn’t work on a bowl, but perhaps a ring glued to the rim would work?

How about making it into a pedestal bowl? With the right wood that might look good inside and on the bottom. Hard to imagine without seeing more of the shape of the piece or the shape in your’ mind’s eye.

I’m doing a lot of guessing here based on nothing but one picture. But that’s all I can think of just now.
 
Thanks everyone for the ideas and levity. I’ve included pictures from the top and side to clarify the bowl’s shape. It was rough turned green including the drill hole, however, it is mostly dry as the weight is not changing much. I am leaning mostly toward plug(s) similar to John’s suggestions. I think I can try using a piece that tries to match and then if that doesn’t look good, go with a contrasting wood, or something more “artistic” though probably not the drain plug. LOL.

Thanks for addressing when in the final turning to do this. I was debating whether to do it now, with ~ 1" side, or close to the end. I’ll plan on getting close, but approach final turning carefully.

Speaking of the tenon: Design: should the tenon be turned off? I’ve been wondering about that. Most of my bowls have tenons. But this might look better flat. Of course, once it’s turned off there’s no going back.

ThanksCrotch profile AAW.jpegMaple crotch B Lynn inside AAW.jpeg
Lary
 
Speaking of the tenon: Design: should the tenon be turned off? I’ve been wondering about that. Most of my bowls have tenons. But this might look better flat. Of course, once it’s turned off there’s no going back.
Lots of options (and opinions) of course. My preference for a shape like that short foot, kind of a ring, a bit hard to even see unless looking straight from the side, but lifts the piece gently from the table. (easier to flatten lightly with a sheet of sandpaper in the event of residual wood movement) I have made some where the curve near the bottom contacted the surface with no lift, but in general didn’t like the look as much. For me the baseless look was better on some other forms. What I like to do is make sketches to compare options. When it doubt, leave some which can be removed, since as you say, once done it’s done!

BTW, I do like the shape from the side - I’m not always a fan of rims that flare out or the forms sometimes dictated by coring aids - I nearly always want the sides to move inward. What ever you end up doing, the piece will look great - it doesn’t hurt to have some beautiful wood to work with!

JKJ
 
Well, yeah, hmmm, sometimes it can pay to sit it on the shelf till all the emotion passes and you get a clear idea of what do with the issue. I am a firm believer in that if you cant hide it make it a feature and do whatever it takes to achieve this. I have found at times the innovation or creative bent or what ever it is that gets you there, is a great step in artistic endeavor.
As for tenons etc much depends on what the design/shape/form is etc, for me the foot elevates the piece off the horizontal surface and doubles as the tenon for hollowing. But I try avoid having any ideas/concepts that are set in stone, everything I do is just a page in the book of experience for later reference. If you aren't making mistakes you probably aren't growing in the craft.
My 15 cents 😁 I have some mad inflation going on down here 🤣
 
Though it would not fit in with the grain too well I have had very good luck with small branches from the fire wood pile whittled down to size Sometimes using colored epoxy to hold it in
 
Now for the inside profile of the piece above? The near final profile and view from top are in the photos. In particular, contemplating the transition from the convex curved upper part, to the concave lower part and bottom. The bottom is still very think ~ 1 1/2" and the rim ~ 1/2" so a lot to work with yet. I saw an earlier post that the only requirement is that the inside is smaller than the outside good advice. I also try to follow many of Richard Raffans suggestions. This is the first time I've made this profile and would rather it turn out somewhat nice. So I'd appreciate some suggestions.

My thinking is for the inside profile to somewhat follow the upper concave part at ~ same thickness or getting slightly thicker as going down. Around the transition to convex outside this would gently transition cuve to across the bottom similar. Seems like the transition from upper "outward" inside profile to the more common bottom profile should be slow. Alternatively, it could follow the outside more closely with a more sudden transition at the inflection(?). Not sure on the final bottom thickness. (this will need the plug mentioned above.) Most of my walls are 6-10 mm. Seems like this might want to be thicker however I'd rather not have it feel "too heavy". (4 1/2" ht, 7 1/2" diam.)
(note the wood figure looks much better than the photo as my tool marks are still prevalent).
Thanks
Lary


Crotch profile_IMG_8042.JPGCrotch from top_IMG_8043.JPG
 
Lary,

(oops, wrote this yesterday, forgot to post. Some thoughts. Maybe you already have it figured out.)

When a student or visitor in my shop does something they regret, I get out my Box-‘O-Shame and show them some of my goofs. Doesn’t help their problem but maybe makes them feel a bit better! Ain’t a turner/woodworker/metalworker/painter/potter alive or previously alive who didn’t make or do something by mistake. Since I mostly turn small things, my mistakes are often unfixable and go into the shame box.

In the case of the hole, I’d absolutely try a fix. I have plug cutters but they often don’t cut cleanly. Instead I’d try to find a small piece with the same color, grain, look, and turn a small face-grain plug to fit. Perhaps there is an offcut or another small chunk of the same or similar log/blank. Turn a small filler piece, (glue to a tiny waste block if needed) paying attention to the rings/figure/grain orientation. I’d make it gently tapered. If the hole is not tapered, it could easily be tapered on the lathe or with a reamer - I keep a box of reamers of different sizes and tapers for wood and metal work.

If the wood is wet, I’d wait until it was well dried. If the hole went out of round or the sides were rough, a long, gently tapered reamer could prep. A bit of shellac-based or cellulose sanding sealer in the hole could help stiffen the fibers. If the piece will be final turned after drying and the tenon removed and the inside thinned, I’d wait until that was done, leaving a whisper of extra wood to smooth down after the plug is glued in. If the final base is thick enough, two plugs might be appropriate. If thin, a single smoothly tapered hole and a single turned plug might be easier. Might have to sneak up on the taper to get a good fit. I don’t think I’d use thin CA glue since it could soak into the grain and stain the wood.

If appropriate, some turned decoration on the bottom could hide the joint.

If that tenon will be turned away, another possibility is to remove a few appropriate chips of wood from the tenon before turning it away, glue in ashort plug of almost any wood, then cut the a chip with a scalpel or something to exactly fit the hole, then sand it flat.

One trick John Lucas taught me might work here to hide any small visual discontinuity at the glue line. I’ve used it to fill tiny defects such as a small chip missing: apply a drop of thin CA to a medium fine strip of sandpaper (maybe 400 or coarser) and wet sand the area. The sandpaper picks picks up sawdust from that area, mixes with the film of CA from the sandpaper, then forces it into any small defect. Try this on scrap first - it can make barely visible seams invisible.

Don’t know if appropriate for this piece, but a brute force fix might work - we last used it on a student’s box where the bottom was cut deeper than the wood! Cut out a larger hole and glued in a larger plug from a completely dissimilar wood. In the box case, we added the same wood to the center of the lid to create a visual balance. This wouldn’t work on a bowl, but perhaps a ring glued to the rim would work?

How about making it into a pedestal bowl? With the right wood that might look good inside and on the bottom. Hard to imagine without seeing more of the shape of the piece or the shape in your’ mind’s eye.

I’m doing a lot of guessing here based on nothing but one picture. But that’s all I can think of just now
I like your Box-o-Shame idea, John. A couple of summers ago I blew out the wall of my very 1st hollow-form in David Ellsworth's class. David insisted on hot-gluing it back together for me. I took it home and displayed it on my desk the last 3 semesters I taught high school. I would put it on my podium on Day 1 in each class to let students know that mistakes are how we learn, that I make them and own them, and that they were okay to make some as well as long as they were willing to learn and grow from them. When I was cleaning out and giving away decades' worth of "stuff" in the weeks before I retired, I gave it to one of my favorite students, who displays it in her college dorm now.

All this said, I have gotten much better at recovering from mistakes on the lathe as I have learned to leave myself wood enough to make them when possible. Leaving extra meat on the top rim of big platters (and then finishing them 1st on the flip) was one I had to learn the hard way, for example. (not always so with small stuff).
 
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