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Filling a big crack

Emiliano Achaval

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I went to 4 hardware stores looking for the 5 minute epoxy in 2 bottles, usually Devcon brand here. Nobody carries it anymore. I had to order it online. They only have the epoxy that comes in a syringe, not cost-effective to fill cracks. I'm also out of the thick CA. I have medium and thin. So, for the first time, I used Titebond. I wonder how effective this is going to be. I'm attaching a picture. The crack goes fairly deep, but not all the way. I almost considered not turning it, I will wrap it with plastic wrap to hollow it.
 

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Randy Anderson

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I've sometimes wondered if Titebond would work in some way on bowls. It's cheap and I have a lot of it around all the time. My concern was that if thick it can take forever, if ever, to fully dry. It deep enough and depending on wood moisture content it might crust over and stay wet inside like in the bottle. On flat work I mix it up with sawdust and shavings from the same piece and push it into the gaps or just rub a handful of sawdust over the glue area. I do the same with thick or med CA on bowls but never tried it with titebond. Will be curious to see how it works.
 
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small cracks titebond and colored caulk works on small & medium cracks
 
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Titebond is a poor choice for gap filling. I attended a seminar by Darryl Keil of Vacuum Pressing Systems. He started discussing the need for a rigid glue line to hold veneer. He had a strip of hardened Titebond, maybe 3/32" thick, 2" wide, and 8" long. He put it inside a warm heating pad, the kind used for treating muscle pain and continued to talk. After a short period of time he brought the warmed strip out and it bent like it was a noodle. His point, never use if for a table top or anything getting hard sun exposure. If you did, the veneer seams will open as the Titebond softened.
 
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I've never used titebond alone to fill cracks but I've mixed it with fine sawdust and used it to fill voids in inlays a lot. I usually use walnut dust and it makes a dark fill that will contrast with most other woods. The only drawback is that it takes a long time to dry, usually a couple days.
 

Roger Wiegand

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I buy my epoxy by the gallon from System3 or West. Much cheaper that way and you don't run out but every several years. With the slow, medium and fast hardeners on hand one is ready for pretty much anything. The components have a near infinite shelf life (they do turn yellow as the years go on, but it doesn't affect function) so there's not much to lose. You can store some in mustard squeeze bottles if you like the convenience of that format for dispensing. Anything more than a couple of ml, or if strength matters in what I'm doing, I dispense by weight. Of course it can be mixed with a very wide variety of materials to get different properties. I like microballoons for making a putty to use in places where appearance isn't important, but sanding dust also works fine.
 
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I buy my epoxy by the gallon from System3 or West. Much cheaper that way and you don't run out but every several years. With the slow, medium and fast hardeners on hand one is ready for pretty much anything. The components have a near infinite shelf life (they do turn yellow as the years go on, but it doesn't affect function) so there's not much to lose. You can store some in mustard squeeze bottles if you like the convenience of that format for dispensing. Anything more than a couple of ml, or if strength matters in what I'm doing, I dispense by weight. Of course it can be mixed with a very wide variety of materials to get different properties. I like microballoons for making a putty to use in places where appearance isn't important, but sanding dust also works fine.

That epoxy is great, I had some for about 10 years and it was still good, like you said does yellow over time but it’s great stuff (I think that name has already been taken):)
 
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I went to 4 hardware stores looking for the 5 minute epoxy in 2 bottles, usually Devcon brand here. Nobody carries it anymore. I had to order it online. They only have the epoxy that comes in a syringe, not cost-effective to fill cracks. I'm also out of the thick CA. I have medium and thin. So, for the first time, I used Titebond. I wonder how effective this is going to be. I'm attaching a picture. The crack goes fairly deep, but not all the way. I almost considered not turning it, I will wrap it with plastic wrap to hollow it.
Titebond a poor choice. Not made to fill any sizeof gaps.
If gap not going to be stressed at all you could use gorilla glue. But if any stress at all you need epoxy.
 
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One problem you are going to have is the Titebond will shrink as it dries (which may take a few days), you will also probably not like the appearance, and it won't accept stain or dye. The shrinkage may work in your favor if you plan a cosmetic surface fill over the top of the glue in the crack.

It will probably hold it together though as it will seep down into the wood and bind it well where the crack is closer together.

For some fills, I've used bar top epoxy, very thin consistency, and flows into tiny cracks well. Most big box stores carry one brand or another of it. Problem is it's a 24 hour cure, and for the curved surface you have would need copious amounts of hot glue to dam it in.
 

Emiliano Achaval

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Thank you, everybody! One of the things about woodturning, you can learn something every day. And here is a great place to come and learn and help others. Went back to an ACE downtown and they now carry the 2 part epoxy, but a different brand, JB Weld. I have used JB Weld before, but the 2 parts fix it all white paste. I wasn't aware of the epoxy. The Titebond still a bit wet looking. I also went to Fiberglass Hawaii, they do not have System 3, but their own brand. The epoxy is a 5 to 1 mix. Comes with a pump. I had that before, one pump became unscrewed and made a mess, and of course, wasted a lot and was impossible to dispense it right. @Roger Wiegand Wiegand is the one you use 2 equal parts or 5 to 1? I'm willing to buy something larger than 8 oz but I prefer 1 to one mixing ratio. In this instance, I will apply the pewa before finishing the inside. I usually recommend not using pewa to stabilize a piece, but in this case, it might be just enough to save me a trip to the dentist.
 

Emiliano Achaval

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small cracks titebond and colored caulk works on small & medium cracks
Charlie, what you are saying is that you would not use it on a large structural problematic crack? I usually don't turn pieces with large cracks, so we are on the same page here. Thanks for the help. Aloha
 
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