Need to SAVE a table top (big hole) please help a noobie!

[noobguy]

Hey guys,

first post here. Seems like there are some knowledgable people out there that can hopefully help out.

I am a recent convert to the woodworking religion. Loving it. Decided to use some leftover wood to make two small bedside tables. After using a rubber mallet to knock a finger join together, a piece of the wood popped up (roughly 10cm x 4cm). Tried to fill it in with putty, looked TERRIBLE :C

I was thinking of either chiseling a rectangle and replacing the gap with another piece of the same wood, or....not sure what else I was thinking to be honest.

What would the clever people of the congregation do in this instance?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Amen!

Please note, the darker colour around the hole is oil. Pics attached. You guys rock!

[DaveTTC]

Welcome to the site. Good to have another.

You could use coffee grinds Nd full it to look like a knot

I would use a router over a chisel if you want to place a rectangle patch in. Just use the chisel to square up the corners

Another option. Given the hole lines up with you centre joint. You could route a groove across the entire table the width of the joint. This piece contrasting colour to match your legs. It need not be overly deep


Dave

The Turning Cowboy

[ian]

How thick was the 10 x 4 cm splinter?

perhaps the top can be planned down to below the hole left when the splinter popped out.

more difficult is to remove all the oil and cover the whole top including the hole, but not the end grain fingers with a piece of veneer.

[rustynail]

OK, here is how to make an invisible patch. Avoid making any cross grain joints (they are almost impossible to hide.) In your case you are lucky as the only cross grain joint would be against the finger. Now to avoid any further cross grain joint we would gradually taper the two sides in to form a point. In other words, you would have a patch in the shape of an arrow head. The gently tapering side joint lines would imitate the grain in the timber. The patch hole should be clean and vertical sided. The patch piece should be an exact fit for shape and slightly thicker than the hole is deep. Once you are satisfied with the fit of the patch, bevel the sides in a little towards the
bottom. This gives an easy start for the fitting of the patch. You are now ready to glue up. Keep glue to a minimum to prevent underside build up. (You can, if you wish, drill a small hole through the patch to allow glue to escape and fill later. Once the glue has dried, sand the patch down to be flush with the surrounding surface. Job done.

[Master Splinter]

Glue the original piece back in after painstakingly picking the putty out? An embarrassing late-night cigarette accident that burns the table to the ground? Reclassify it 'for shed use only'?

Or yeah, patch it.

[nrb]

I go with mastersplinter,if you still have the bit that broke out? if not as has been suggested,make a feature across the whole top.
I know it's a bit late now but that has happened to me a few times,I just glue it back into where it come from.

[John Samuel]

I go with mastersplinter,if you still have the bit that broke out? if not as has been suggested,make a feature across the whole top.
I know it's a bit late now but that has happened to me a few times,I just glue it back into where it come from.
:wts:

[Christos]

It does look like a fair size chunk. I would try and glue the original back in. Then look at filling the gap around the glued in piece with epoxy dyed black.

Sanding the epoxy will be hard going as this will be harder than the wood. Try not to over fill if you go that direction.

[noobguy]

Firstly a big thank you for all your suggestions! Some of you guys really know your stuff. I gave DaveTTC's suggestion a try and I believe it will work out.

I used a router to clear out a shallow strip that spans the width of the top, cut a strip of walnut to size and glued it in. Nice little feature for the table. Pic attached, hasn't been finished yet though, a few random oil tests to make sure the filler I'm using is ok.

Thanks again for everyone's input, greatly appreciated.
297044

[DaveTTC]

looks good!!!

Thanks for the feed back, always nice when someone comes back and shows us how they went

[DaveTTC]

there's an introduction section here if you want to say a bit more about yourself there. Gives others a chance to get to know you and you can say more about what you are interested in.

Keep an eye out for forum get togethers too. Im having a woodworkers weekend up here in Jerilderie on the Australia Day long weekend.

hope you keep posting your work

[noobguy]

there's an introduction section here if you want to say a bit more about yourself there. Gives others a chance to get to know you and you can say more about what you are interested in.

Keep an eye out for forum get togethers too. Im having a woodworkers weekend up here in Jerilderie on the Australia Day long weekend.

hope you keep posting your work


Thanks DaveTTC, I'll check out that section this week. Will keep an eye out for info on your get together too.

All the best!

[DaveTTC]

Here is the link

http://www.woodworkforums.com/f25/wwjj-woodworkers-jerilderie-jaunt-jan-2014-a-170839/index6.html#post1723287


Dave

The Turning Cowboy

[dr4g0nfly]

Good rescue and nice work in achieving the inset piece.