Filling a small hole in irondwood?

[Patrice Lemée]

Got this small hole 1/16 by 5/32 in an ironwood handle. (first time I work with it)
I was not planning on any special finish, just fine sanding and buff. But how to fill this small hole and not have it stand out compared to the finish. I thought about dust mixed with epoxy or CA but wouldn't that stand out compared to the rest?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fast14riot]

Nah, you would be amazed how well you can match it with CA and dust.


-Xander

Edit: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/821648-Damascus-fighter-WIP-Professional-pictures-added!/page3?highlight=phillip+patton+wip

Check out page 3 and go from there...

 

[oldwolf]

Kind of depends on the burl pattern you have. The fill is going to probably turn out dark, so if you have a lot of dark light mix it will most likely blend right in.

 

[AVigil]

All holes will show but you can do wonders with dust and CA to diminish the "What the hell is that?" when you first look at it

 

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Or you can do as I've seen some do, and not make it blend in, but look good. I saw one guy take black epoxy and fill the hole with it, then it looked different than the wood, but since it was burl, looked like a knot or something. You didn't realize on the finished handle that it was a hole. And it looked really good.

Just an idea I saw somewhere, I haven't had to try it yet though, so ymmv.

 

[tryppyr]

Or, depending on where the hole is, drill it out and fill it with something else... like a mosiac pin. Turn a flaw into a feature.

 

[Horsewright]

I have switched recently to the dyed epoxy camp and I like the results better than the sawdust and CA. I recently did some oak burl that had a lot of voids and on this piece I wasn't able to tell the epoxy from the blackish grain.

 

[Dixieblade57]

You got a pic Pat?

I would imagine if it's not huge epoxy with black paint mixed into it would work. I should appear as the natural grain once hardened and sanded down and finish applied!

 

[Burl Source]

We need a photo or the hole is not there!

 

[midnight flyer]

I used to do a lot of woodturning. If you know much about that craft, we love imperfections. They are wood's character.

I used to fill my voids and cracks with colored epoxy, or epoxy with "stuff" in it. I have used my own items like brass shavings, aluminum bits, colored stone, ground copper, etc and love the effect.

But there are folks that make "stuff" for the very purpose of filling voids that are intentional or unintentional.

Check this out: http://www.inlaceonline.com

Filler is what they do. I have seen their turquoise product put in black epoxy and the effect is gorgeous. They make inlay a breeze.

For small cracks and fissures, I always used 30 minute set epoxy colored with copier or laser printer toner. A little goes a really long way to get that deep black color. After a few days of curing, the epoxy is hard enough to sand and polish to any luster you wish.

Robert

 

[Raymond Richard]

My late friend Gib had a unique and interesting way of filling holes in ironwood: http://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=1498&photo=1&size=b

 

[Patrice Lemée]

That's cool Raymond.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will go with the tinted epoxy. I use acrylic paint to color it. Works great and my wife does decorative painting and has about 200-300 different colors. Here is a pic of the void.

See what you made me do Mark, now it's real.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

As small as that is, I would just put a drop of super glue in it and hit it with hardener.

 

[Raymond Richard]

That's cool Raymond.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will go with the tinted epoxy. I use acrylic paint to color it. Works great and my wife does decorative painting and has about 200-300 different colors. Here is a pic of the void.

See what you made me do Mark, now it's real.

I've filled holes like that with chewing tobacco.

 

[tryppyr]

Hey, look! His fingers ARE HUMAN.

 

[oldanvilyoungsmith]

Something like that, just a drop of ca and your good, I've done that with teensy holes in ironwood before.

 

[Burl Source]

I agree with oldanvil.
Just a couple drops of CA glue and it should blend right in.

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Thanks, I will try the CA then. It is not finished yet at you can see so there should still be a little thickness taken off to reduce it even more.
I am sure glad I don't have to take up chewing tobacco Ray.

PS:Greg, yes the hand graft seems to be working.

 

[woodwrkr221]

Your wife could most likely use her artistic talent to "fake" the wood color and grain after you've filled the hole and no one will ever know it's there!

 

[Patrice Lemée]

Crap! I put a little CA in there and hit it with some hardener and the whole thing turned milky white. Now I have a white inclusion. Gotta scrape it out, hopefully not enlarging it too much, and start again.