Woodturning Online

I have grown fond of turning dogwood on my lathe but a lot of the wood that I have gotten has numerous worm holes in it. The holes are about 1/8" in diameter and I would like to know if anyone has a method of filling those holes with an epoxy of some sort.

Thanks

Sylvan

Sylvan;

I use a medium viscocity CA glue mixed with saw dust. I will put the glue in the hole and then take the finest shavings or dust that is closest to the color of the surrounding wood and rub it in. It may take a couple of treatments but I always get satisfactory results.
That is the method I use most. Other methods I have used are copper or brass powder mixed in epoxy (never got any results I liked) and one that did work well was on a piece of ambrosia maple. I drilled holes and used siver rod the same width as the streaks leading up to the worm hole. It looked like the resulting silver dot was a part of the streak.
Honestly - any more I just leave them. They add more character to the wood than any other method I have found. If that need to fill them wins, I use the wood dust and CA glue method.

Hope ths helps and Happy Turning !

Scott

I also normally use CA and sawdust but lately have been using more old coffee grounds which results in a very dark brown (near black) filled hole.

Dennis

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try the CA mixture. A friend of mine also suggested an epoxy filler forced into the holes using a vacuum system.
I agree that the holes add character but if I'm making a salt or pepper mills, having holes in it could be a problem.

Sylvan

http://www.kbs-coatings.com/KBS-NuMetal ... _9-19.html Even comes in colors.

I prefer to put CA in the hole and stuff a contrasting color piece of wood or bark in on top when using CA. Avoids that "dead fish" eye look you get with sawdust.

For peppermills holes are terrible but decorative pieces the are really cool.
I left them in the Dogwood bowl I did for my neighbor.
Maybe find another use for those pieces and peppermills from some other type of wood?

I can't believe I'm writing this to Nobody!!!
Quite often the worm will have left the dust packed in place ready to be superglued. I try to do the gluing a cut or two BEFORE the finishing cut, the results seem a little less obvious.
Something else not previously mentioned is to microwave the part-finished project for a few seconds (it only needs to feel slightly warm to the touch) to make certain that no livestock is still in there, munching.
All the best
Brian

Yeah, a burst on the microwave is often a good idea.

I recently got a piece of oak burl and had turned a nice platter from it. I put one quick coat of tung oil on it before leaving it overnight on the lathe, planning to turn the foot the next morning. But when I came down to the shop the next day, there was lots of little piles of sawdust all over the piece... hmm, and then it dawned on me, powder post beetles! Yikes!!!

But a couple of microwave bursts solved that problem, just don't tell my wife!!

Dennis

I'm considered microwaving the pieces I have. I know for a fact that some of the worms are still in there. I have turned down to their stopping place and had them slung out of the piece (yum, yum). I am going to consider an alternate project for the pieces. I just have way to much dogwood to let it go to waste.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Sylvan