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Filling cracks....

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arcos:
So, I turned a large tea light holder from that 'horrible' spalted olive that kept breaking on me when turning. It's about 15cm diameter and and around 8cm depth. Taking a glass tea light holder similar to the large ones sold in Wilkinsons it looks pretty nice!

Through the piece was a near perfect straight line of spalting. My concern at the time of turning was this line cracking and spinning off across the room (or into my face!).

Well, it survived. However, it has now started to split and has cracked through the outside but appears to have stopped splitting.

I have often read about 'features' being made of splits, cracks, worm holes and alike with brass, silver solder, ground coffee and a host of other weird and wonderful things.

Has anyone ever tried creating a feature from an imperfection?

woody:
I do that two different ways with supper glue or by mixing whatever you like with epoxy resin a good one for spalting lines is crushed Coal or charcoal because it is jet black 

Bryan Milham:
Some people I know use Coffee grounds in epoxy (araldite) - they are not quite black so tend to blend better they say with spalitin. Charcol & coal dust all work, I have used Laser Printer/photocopier toner myself - it's a sort of plastic dust.

I've never used it on a crack but I have on texturing - Car body filler (Isopon stuff) mix it with just about any solid acrylic type colour (I've quite happily used ground up artists pastels). I imagine it would hold most powdered substances as well, again coffee, charcol, metal dust.

Lastly and I had a big crack appear once, so I drilled a row of holes either side and put a lacing through it - looked quite good. I'll see if I can find it at home later and pop-up a pic.

bodrighywood:
I have used coffee grinds, brass and aluminium dust and also have bottles of sawdust from different woods saved for the purpose. I don;'t try and fill cracks until I am certain that the wood has stopped moving as it can split open again if done when still partly wet. Be careful as any woods with splits can explode under the forces on a lathe.

Pete

julcle:
Humbrol Enamel Paint (the stuff that modelers use) works well mixed in with
Epoxy Resin. You have the advantage of being able to colour match with this.

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