Fixing crack

[smidsy]

Hei Guys,
I'm making a pair of salt & pepper grinders and one of them cracked during drilling, the crack is all the way through but only about 15mm long and it's at the bottom - don't think it will affect the structural strength but it is unsightly.
Is there anyway to fix this to the point where it will be hidden or do I have to live with it.
The timber is jarrah and the planned finish was just going to be the ubeaut shithot wax.
Cheers
Paul

[PAH1]

The new age answer is superglue, particularly if it is small. Some rub some of the very fine shavings/dust into it to more closely match the colour. A word of caution though, superglue vapors/dust after sanding are very irritating make sure your glue is dry and you have adequate dust extraction. On darker timber the superglue seems less noticeable than on light timber, but then again that could be oily hands on my part.

[namtrak]

I reckon that the best way to fix a crack is wear a belt. :rolleyes:

[rsser]

Squeeze some superglue into the crack then asap spin the lathe fairly slow and sand with coarse paper. Stand aside so you don't get sprayed :). Repeat if necessary. It'll just look like a sap line. Fix your grinder retaining bar at right angles to the crack.

It may have been caused by excessive heat in the drilling out.

Make sure your bit is sharp, go slowish, drill out only a cm at a time before clearing the shavings (a lot of that can be done with a wooden chopstick inserted in the shavings shute while the piece is turning). Try to keep the friction down with careful centring of the piece and the drill bit (what kind of bit did you use btw?).

That's today's brain dump!

[smidsy]

Hei Ern,
I used a 34mm forstner bit which while only a cheapie has only drilled about two holes and should be decently sharp.
Maybe the lathe was running a bit fast, I was on the slowest speed but I was at my turning club using a wood fast lathe (I think that's the brand anyway) that only had 4 speeds.
I'll try patching it and if I don't like the results it becomes a (another) practise piece.
Cheers
Paul

[barnsey]

Smidsy,

Had that happen to me on a number of pieces :o

Super Glue (cyanoacrylate ) is a good fix in my experience. You have to get it right into the crack - pin or thin piece of wire helps. Then light cramping to get the faces back together again - Ive used the picture frame clamps made of nylon webbing - cheap = and applied just enough pressure to get it together. Have also used a spanish windlass. ;)

Jamie

[rsser]

Paul - does your Forstner bit have a saw-tooth rim?
Ern