Filling in walnut voids and knots

allen levine

Member
Messages
12,332
Location
new york city burbs
Hope someone can give me a new idea on how to fill in the voids and knots of walnut.
I have some beautiful wolverine walnut that I didnt want to use yet, so only made a small top of it, and I have alot of thick walnut that I bought from my wood guy, even though I knew it was destined for flooring.
Seems the thick chunks have alot of voids and knots, and as much as I tried to trim around and all, I made 4 tapered legs(28inches), and there are alot of voids with knots Id love to make dissapear, or less noticable.(Im thinking about just spinning most of it eventually)
I purchased some epoxy today, was going to play with coffee grinds and epoxy tomorrow, maybe some epoxy and black paint, unless someone knows something that will be easy to obtain and work great.
Thankyou in advance for any replies.
 
Larry Potterfield of Midway Arms gave a demo on doing this with a rifle stock on one of his commercials recently. He filled the hole 99% with a barrel embedding mix like epoxy then topped it with sanding dust from the wood he was working with.
You might want to experiment on scrap using epoxy and sanding dust.
I haven't looked, but I'll betcha Potterfield has a tips section at the store web site with this demo.
 
Alan, I've used epoxy with instant coffee crystals, epoxy with sawdust, epoxy with black India ink, and epoxy with crushed charcoal. None of them match the surrounding wood -- they look like a patch. My preference is the charcoal, since I've gotten the most consistent results with it. If the voids are small enough, I fill them dry with charcoal then soak the spot with CA glue. If they're bigger, I mix the epoxy and charcoal together before working it into the void.

By the way, the epoxy and India ink was the worst combo I've tried. The ink somehow prevented the epoxy from hardening all the way. I suspect you might run into the same problem with paint.
 
Alan, I've used epoxy with instant coffee crystals, epoxy with sawdust, epoxy with black India ink, and epoxy with crushed charcoal. None of them match the surrounding wood -- they look like a patch. My preference is the charcoal, since I've gotten the most consistent results with it. ...

I've tried all those, but settled on epoxy, with Van Dyke crystals. I think the VD crystals are nothing more than crushed walnut hulls, but they do impart the right warm brown coloration to the epoxy.
 
the coffee and epoxy worked well to fill in the holes, but the color was too light. Almost all the voids are in the real black knotty parts.
Ill try to buy some powdered dye tomorrow.Years ago I used to sell a fabric dye called Tintex, so IM wondering if any of the arts and craft style stores would have powdered dye around here.

My wife suggested theres absolutely no reason to fill anything since the top is void of any voids(haha), and theres no reason to hide the woods character.

Its a very small little telephone/hall style table.

I have famowood, wood putty, crayons, but nothing looks natural.
 
Last edited:
... My wife suggested theres absolutely no reason to fill anything since the top is void of any voids(haha), and theres no reason to hide the woods character...

Hard to argue with that. ;) That would be my choice if it was just in the legs. You mentioned that with all the different filling materials you have, nothing looks natural. That's because it's the voids that look natural. :D

The powdered dye should work, but if you're after black, I'd still say try the charcoal.
 
I went with the charcoal, the knots were black, it filled in black, I left it alone after one fill, needs maybe a bit more, Im ready to almost junk a project where the wood selected is just inferior. Bad choice of lumber. Thanks for the help, Im going to put some rub on poly on it, if its not liked, it get cut apart for scrap or pens.
 
I went with the charcoal, the knots were black, it filled in black, I left it alone after one fill, needs maybe a bit more, Im ready to almost junk a project where the wood selected is just inferior. Bad choice of lumber. Thanks for the help, Im going to put some rub on poly on it,
if its not liked, it get cut apart for scrap or pens.
Hi Allen; I just want to jump in here in case you consider turning it into pen blanks.

Be certain to cut it up across the grain, but much better would be at a 45º angle. Those kind of cuts really enhance the grain when turned into a pen!
 
Hope someone can give me a new idea on how to fill in the voids and knots of walnut.
I have some beautiful wolverine walnut that I didnt want to use yet, so only made a small top of it, and I have alot of thick walnut that I bought from my wood guy, even though I knew it was destined for flooring.
Seems the thick chunks have alot of voids and knots, and as much as I tried to trim around and all, I made 4 tapered legs(28inches), and there are alot of voids with knots Id love to make dissapear, or less noticable.(Im thinking about just spinning most of it eventually)
I purchased some epoxy today, was going to play with coffee grinds and epoxy tomorrow, maybe some epoxy and black paint, unless someone knows something that will be easy to obtain and work great.
Thankyou in advance for any replies.
****************************************************
I see shellac sticks are still available and surprised no one seems to use them. Filling tear outs with shellac and an alcohol burner in cedar was one of the basics to learn in Jr. high shop class.
 
It will be kept assembled.

The legs arent perfect, but then again neither is anything I build, nor me, so I guess it will just go with the flow.
Ill try to post a picture of the filled in voids, I just dont know if Ill get anything on my camera.

Mr. Wiggins, I dont understand what youre posting, would be appreciated if you could expand on the alcohol burner with cedar.
 
I tried to get a decent picture, sorry, just cant get the hands steady enough, too stuborn to buy a new camera.
ONe came out viewable of one knot.The top has zero blemishes. Up near the aprons, two legs have bad knots, I couldnt avoid them. They are just not easy to see.
 

Attachments

  • wood stuff 1385 (Medium).jpg
    wood stuff 1385 (Medium).jpg
    45.5 KB · Views: 20
  • wood stuff 1389 (Medium).jpg
    wood stuff 1389 (Medium).jpg
    74.9 KB · Views: 18
  • wood stuff 1391 (Medium).jpg
    wood stuff 1391 (Medium).jpg
    58.5 KB · Views: 17
  • wood stuff 1393 (Medium).jpg
    wood stuff 1393 (Medium).jpg
    62.3 KB · Views: 19
Last edited:
It will be kept assembled.

The legs arent perfect, but then again neither is anything I build, nor me, so I guess it will just go with the flow.
Ill try to post a picture of the filled in voids, I just dont know if Ill get anything on my camera.

Mr. Wiggins, I dont understand what youre posting, would be appreciated if you could expand on the alcohol burner with cedar.
*******************************************************
The alcohol burner was only a method of heating the shellac just above the void and allowing it to drip until that void was full plus a small amount more to allow for sanding flush. A burn in knife can be used or any suitable tool or flame to melt the shellac but with the drip method there isn't the chance of heating the wood too hot causing discoloration.

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/StickShellac/sticklac1.html
 
For that I would use a poxy with color tint and get it real close. After that I would probly break out the wax sticks and colorsd and start blending.
 
Top