Filling Cracks

Dear All
I have just started turning again after a 20 year hiatus. I have purchased a TTI MC1100 lathe that I am very happy with. As a test I am turning a piece of fallen gum tree ?blackbut from my property. It was destined to be firewood and was felled about 3 years ago. I have turned the outside of a small bowl (~6") and will finish it tonight. I has very nice grain and colour but has some small cracks in the wood.
My qustions are:
How do I fill the cracks? I have read some posts about using CA but am unsure about how to practically do this. CA comes in tiny tubes and sticks my fingers together!
What is felt to be the the best finish? I have used polyurethane painted on in the past for a high gloss finish but read a lot about wax finishes. I have used beeswax but found it marked with any water. Are the curent waxes much better?
Thak you in advance.

Terry B

Terry - Welcome to the nightmare!:D If you search the forum for "cracks" you'll find mobs of solutions. One of my favorites, depending on the piece, is explained here. I usually use the little tubes of CA because you usually use a whole tube (at least) at once so you don't have to worry about the lid getting stuck etc. Just squeeze some into the crack, let it dry, squeeze some more etc until its full. Let it dry and sand or continue turning - it soaks in a long way! :D
Personally, I wouldn't use polyurethane on ANYTHING these days:(. It looks too much like a plastic coating and you can't 'feel' the timber. I go for Danish oil or the ubeaut waxes (without showing any favoritism toward our host:D).

!Armidale eh?! Yep - spent some time in hospital there once!!!

As many Cracked heads as there are on this forum , there should be plenty of answers for your plight.

Having said that, I read tonight from another forum, where a fellow filled some cracks with CA and Artist Charcoal dust. Looked neat as black streaks in the wood. I assume that any powder mixed with the CA would work and you could do a contrasting color or an accent color or a blending color. I have also seen where fellows use metal shavings in CA as well as Epoxy to fill holes with an interesting effect.

I think the choice is up to you and the materials you have available. (as long as it turns and sands and accepts a finish).

Another common way to deal with this is to pack used coffee grounds into the crack before hitting it with the CA (much cheaper and gives a very effective appearance).

For an example see this thread:
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=31615

Thank you for the reply. I will buy some little tubes.
I also spend lots of time at the hospital but nevew as a patient. Work, (but it pays the bills!!).

Terry B

Depending on the crack (structural integrity), they sometimes look best if left natural.

Terry
I like to use polyester resin as used in fiberglassing for anything larger than hairline cracks . It's much cheeper than CA glue . Last time I bought it I think I paid about $14 for 500 gm including catylist . I purchased from a fibregass shop . It costs a bit more if you have to buy it from a hardware shop . I only mix about a teaspoon full at a time ,just add a drop of catylist to it and just dab it into the cracks untill it sits proud of the surface then next day turn and sand it back . If the crack goes right through ,put a bit of masking tape on the outside and fill with resin from the inside . Sometimes you may have to add more resin the next day as it may sink in .You usually have about an hours working time before the resin goes off so one trick is to put a heat source on the resin filled crack to hurry it along then when it goes off add to it with the residue of your pre catalized resin . Note that you can't use polyester resin on damp (green) wood so your stuck with CA glue then . You can also add sanding dust to the resin if you don't want it to be clear but I find that provided there is some intact wood below the filled crack most people would not notice that it has been filled with resin .
Hope this helps .
Turnerted

You can also squirt in some CA and then sand immediately to get something fairly close in colour, and the sanding pushes the goop into the crack which can help with structural integrity.

Just stand aside when you turn on the lathe to start sanding ;-}

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rsser

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Just stand aside when you turn on the lathe to start sanding ;-}

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or more than your fingers will be stuck.;) :D