Thread: Filling cracks.

Hey Croc,

cant say i have, but i did find a way around the running resin...

i put 2 strips of tape on top of each other all around the crack (twice as thick) then will with resin and whatever else you might be using. then put a bit of tape over the top to hold it all in. i use a little extra than needed so that once it has set (the full 24 hours) i take the tape off and all (should) be fine. if its to this i just spin it again and save off the resin and avoid the wood. then sand and finish...

works for me on medium size cracks but not sure how you would go with anything BIG

cheers
Blake</SPAN></SPAN>

I use clear casting resin or thick CA for the bigger cracks for a clear result. I tend to use plasticine to built up a well before casting. After removing the plasticine, I use a dremmel with a sanding cylinder to sand down before re-turning, if you don't it will fracture. If you want a coloured finish, you can use coffee with thin CA, or crushed stone, or many other alternative things.

Fillers like you describe always tend to shrink when you apply a finish, or are not level with surrounding timber etc, so look like crap IMHO.

Can anyone recommend what to add to Techniglue CA to get a nice black epoxy for filling cracks in jarrah?

Black powder paint, avaliable from artist suppliers or larger newsagents.

Tim

If you want an opaque filler that doesn't run Techniglue epoxy is not runny. Can't do clear cos it dries kinda cream yellow colored. But colored with coffee grounds or dry paint is works well. You just moosh it in the crack with a flexable scraper or something. Prolly couldn't do big cracks cos its glue rather than casting resin. Prolly get too hot or something as it cured.

I use 2 part epoxy. Whenever i have a project and have different types of sawdust, such as black walnut or bloodwood or whatever, I put them away in a jar. I have several different colors and mix up the epoxy ,stirring it to speced time and then add the sawdust . You can get close to a match or use it as a contrast. It dries over night,generally takes stain or oil and stays in place with no shrinking. Give it a try. I learned this from a fellow who makes high end furniture, and I firgured if its good enough for him it should work for me.

Epoxy glue will set with a colour whether opaque or yellow , to colour use dry paint powder, sawdust, graphite(black), I would not use spirit based stains as they may contaminate the glue and have an adverse effect on it's curing, if you must use them , try a sample first!!

Timber Mate fillers can also shrink on application and do not offer any additional strength to the timber, they are also softer than the timber being filled , and will sand faster than the surrounding area , leaving a hollow .


Jeff
vk4

Originally Posted by Dengue

Can anyone recommend what to add to Techniglue CA to get a nice black epoxy for filling cracks in jarrah?

Get a discarded copy machine toner cartridge, or one from a dead copy machine. That is about as black as you can get.

Dead big copy machines are full of motors, lenses, mirrors, transformers, switches, fans, wires, and lots of nice ground tool steel shafts.

Hi Old Croc

Had a similar problem myself and used a combination of the above methods, I used polyester resin from the local store ((http://www.amcsupplies.com.au))which uses MEKP as a curing agent. The resin is clear/yellow tinged and can be coloured with polyester specific pigments. If you use the recomended ration of hardener to resin while using the pigments your curing time will be at minimum doubled but don't get tricked into doubling the hardener as you will find the mix turns to jelly rapidly and then hardens without notice, use the recomended ratio and be patient. When adding pigments only the tiniest ammount is required around 1 drop per ml or even less as the more pigment that is added the slower the curing. One thing of note was that I had little or no bubble intrusion as there was time to let the pigmented mix settle before a pour. My max pour so far has been 10ml with the majority of 5ml or less, sometimes I've mixed as little as 1ml of resin with only a tiny drip of pigment.
Like Neil I use either plasticene or playdough from the $2 shop to build a well and then make the pour. When working on curved surfaces it's a slow process and a stage by stage build up, quite often having to reposition the resting bowl into a position to enable a pour. Again as advised by Niel use your Dremmel or similar to sand down the excess before reaching for the extra sharp gouge or freshly honed scraper.

Relax and have patience and it will work out fine, best part is if you make a mistake you can grind it away with the Dremmel and have another go.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Something that I've played is called Embossing Powder. Comes in different colours, including a jet black. Used by scrapbookers, sprinkled on a template and heated, it flows and set hard.
I've however sprinkled it into cracks and wicked thin CA into it. It sort of collapses in on itself and seals the crack nicely. Build up in layers till the crack is totally filled.
Then sand or cut off with a gouge, just you would when using CA. Because of the CA, oiling is not an option.
Cheers Ian

The iron oxides you buy at the hardware shop will mix with two part resins. It's cheap, colour fast and you only need a little to do the job.

The colour range goes from yellow => orange => red => brown => black and can be mixed to make any gradation in between.