How do you feel about cracks in the wood

I'm doing mostly ironwood, and I find that CA won't penetrate for a good finish. Maybe I need to work at it more.
I don't know what it is, but I like natural cracks. To me they just add a ton of character. But I kind of grew up with Manzanita and have seen some beautiful pieces full of voids and cracks.

Ah, anyway, Stacy you got me thinking of the damage someone could do with 5 gallons of CA. Can you imagine? :eek:
 
If i remember correctly it was Stacy who suggested how to deal with those bottles... Please correct me if i'm wrong but using a small bore brass tube as the bottleneck will plug itself & seal the bottle of CA, then un-plug with a bit of heat for using the bottle next time. It seems a neat idea
 
matus said:
I have the stupidest question of the day, but I am new to working with wood (knife handles) - so if I may ask - What is a CA glue? I will probably need it sooner or later and I will be buying in Germany where it is called differently I suppose.
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It's ''Sekundenkleber'' or ''superkleber'' I use loctite or the house brand from conrad.de
HSC /// said:
sometimes I save the sawdust from sawing and you can use it to fill as required just like John said here
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I flood almost every wood or ivory handle I do with thin CA when it is almost done sanding at the 400 grit step. Put on the CA, wait about 1-2 minutes, and sand. The sanding dust combines with the uncured CA in the cracks and fills it with plasticised wood. I sand smooth and re-flood, then sand smooth again. I closely inspect it for any cracks, pits, etc. and if they are all gone, finish the sanding. If still there, I keep repeating the process until the surface is completely sealed and smooth. I leave no CA on the surface, just in the wood/ivory.

I buy the thin CA in larger bottles, and fill little 1/2oz squeeze bottles with the resin (the small bottles cost about $.50 each when you buy a dozen or two). CA is amazingly cheap in 16 ounce bottles compared to the 2 gram tubes you buy. A 2 gram tube has .07 oz. At 2 tubes for a buck that is $7 and ounce. In 1/2oz bottles it is about $6/oz, 1oz bottles are $4/oz, and in 2oz bottles it is $3.50/oz. Get 8oz or 16oz and it is down to about $2/oz. When I was fooling around with stabilizing bone and ivory, I bought a gallon for $50.

This will work with woods as full of cracks and holes as Buckeye burl. When done, all the holes and cracks become lines and eyes. Even with just hand sanding, the wood takes on a beautiful sheen, and polishes very well with only hand buffing.

This is the only method I have ever found to keep snakewood and gabon ebony from crazing/cracking later on (besides keeping them cool while grinding).

Bruce Bump uses a modification of this method on his show winning handles.
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Hello, I understand what you mean about filling normal cracks in with CA glue, but what about these cracks/abrasions, would they be filled the same way? I have some free time this weekend and I want to finish polishing this old schrade up and be done with it. I would appreciate your thoughts.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N5n31r-XnzJIlDleNr2VuF5j0XNBnV3e/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EVmy08up3gPW1HHAnHfGNkMPfBkyY7oV/view?usp=sharing
 
It is regular one part CA. The same as the small bottles you get from the knife suppliers ... but many times cheaper.

I have posted in the past that the best way to deal with bulk CA bottles is to buy a fifty pack of small 1 or 2oz bottles with dropper tops. Also buy a 100 pack of the disposable tips that go on the dropper tip. ( they are usually red). Fill a bunch of the small bottles and cap them up. Keep them and the bulk container in the refrigerator. Put a disposable tip on a bottle in use, then when done for the day, take off the tip and re-cap the bottle.

If you have the regular bottles of CA most folks buy, use a piece of brass rod to plug the tip. Taper the end a bit amd push it in. When needed next, it will likely be glued in tight. Just heat the brass rod a bit and it will pill out easily. Clean it off and use it again to plug the bottle when done.
 
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