Filling voids in Ironwood

G

Guy Thomas

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
1,370
I've run across some voids in the ironwood scales I'm working on and I can't make the scales any thinner to get past them. My option would appear to be to fill them with something. Would supper glue, maybe the gel variety, work well? Any other suggestions?

And yes I am being careful about the dust. I use hand tools only when I am shaping handles so I'm not generating clouds of the stuff and I use breathing protection. Still, when I go to papers I will work outside over a dust collector.
 
You can get gap filling glues from K&G, and probably others. It's called Gap-Ca(?), there is also Zap-Ca, etc. They run from very thin penetrating glues, for cracks, to the void filling type you need. There is an accelerator also called Zap Kicker. You spray that on and instant setup.

When you fill voids/gaps in Ironwood with clear super glues, it does not show up badly like you would think. Most ironwood requires some filling, more so with really wild grained pieces.
http://www.knifeandgun.com/catalog/adhesive_186655_products.htm
 
Thanks Mike, these aren't bad voids, just a couple of small areas. Heck, since this knife is for me I may not even worry about them until after I finish the handle and see how they look. A very small amount of super glue would fill them all if I want later.

I wasn't aware of the other product though, I may have to check into it for wood with worse voids.
 
If you elect to seal it, if the voids are large enough, make a paste with some of the wood dust from the sanding process, and with either thick superglue or clear-set epoxy you will make them nearly invisible.
 
I almost always seal desert ironwood with superglue.........fills the micro cracks and keeps them from coming back. Use the super thin kind first as it penetrates down into the little cracks way better followed by the thicker stuff on top. Especially the endgrain, which wants to check when it just gets warm. works good on ebony too.
 
Yeah, that one super glue in the K&G catalog says it takes on the color of the surrounding wood when you use it to fill voids.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top