Many woods, like buckeye burl, redwood burl, and the tropical burls (like eucalyptus) have voids and holes. Get the wood stabilized by a good company ( plug for WSSI, here) . When it gets back, some of the smallest voids may be plugged, but it will be pretty much like it went out. Huge voids are more of a problem., but any that are 1/4" or less are not a problem at all.
Rough shape the handle block or mount and rough profile the scales.Don't worry about the voids/cracks yet.
Put a cookie sheet or something under the grinder to catch a small amount of the sawdust as you grind ( or make some from a scrap piece of the same stabilized wood ( or the color may not match).You will use some of this to remove the voids later.
When the handle is about 90% shaped, then you fill the exposed voids. Start with the smallest ones. Put several drops of CA into the tiny ones and let it sit for several minutes. Add more if needed. Then sand that area with a 400 grit belt. The sanding dust will force itself into the still uncured resin and harden. It will make a complete fill of the small void, and often just looks like all the other eyes in the burl. Now, for the larger voids.The medium sized ones get filled with the saved saw dust. Pack it in as hard and tight as you can. use a small piece of pin stock or something to push it in. When it has all it will take. Put on several drops of CA, let it soak in, and repeat until it has stopped taking in more resin. Let it cure a good while, and sand with 400 grit. Add more CA in small drops, as you sand, if needed to fill the void completely.For really large voids, you can make a putty of the saw dust and a good epoxy or acrylic resin. Get the hardest type you can. Forget 5 minute stuff, System Three T-88 works well, here. Mix the epoxy with the saw dust to make a thick dough. Wet the void with some epoxy, then force in the dough as firmly as possible. leave extra sticking out. Let fully cure - one or two days - and sand down flush. Use the CA and sand technique to finish up any bubbles showing.
As you sand the handle to final finish, you will undoubtedly find minute cracks and voids (on most any handle material). Fill them with a drop of CA and sand after 60 seconds. This will seal the place with acrylic resin and fine wood dust. The final handle can be buffed and polished as you do any piece of stabilized wood.
This will take any material from a good burl to cactus or banksia pods and make them usable. I have had superb results on Buckeye burl, box elder burl, and redwood burl with this technique.
Stacy
