Soft punky wood to fill

[Gary Slater]

I have a large block of very soft, punky spalted "something" I want to turn rather than throw away. I am not concerned how many "unsightly" holes end up in my project, much of the time those irregular holes add character to the piece. But I would like to fill in all the punky, soft spots and get a good shine on the finished project. Any one have any success with this sort of thing?

 

[Roger Hirlinger]

I've used this clear penetrating epoxy sealer on some very punky spalted Mango. I rough turned it, then used the sealer and turned it final. It didn't completely stop the tear out, but it made it very workable.

http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/index.html

 

[Dan Mosley]

you can try to put some Acrylic Floor finish on the punky spots -It soaks in well in most woods.... I have tried it in the past and it dries very quickly and will stiffen up the fibers very hard.........Shellac or Laquer works so so and i have used those to......

 

[Todd Glover]

you can try to put some Acrylic Floor finish on the punky spots -It soaks in well in most woods.... I have tried it in the past and it dries very quickly and will stiffen up the fibers very hard.........Shellac or Laquer works so so and i have used those to......

I wonder if you put some dye in there with it how it might turn out.



You could always send it out for stabilizing, there are several places that perform that service.

 

[Mike Gould]

At my club meeting last night one of our members asked about a similar problem. A different member suggested the Smith and Co.
CPES product that Roger mentioned.

It is available at Jamestown Distributors (and elsewhere I'm sure)
http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...do?pid=1268&familyName=Smiths+Warm+CPES+Epoxy

It was described at the meeting as a thin epoxy that penetrates through the wood and when cured fully stiffens the soft areas.

I have never used it, But thought it would help you out.

---Mike Gould---

 

[john lucas]

Most of the time I use clear lacquer diluted 50/50 with lacquer thinner. It might take several coats because it penetrates very deep. If it takes too many, reduce the dilution. I usually do this as I approach the final size so that I can go back and make the final 4 or 5 cuts and get rid of all the tearout.
For really bad areas with deep tearout I use a product called System 3 mirror coat that I get from Woodcraft. It is a 2 part clear epoxy that becomes very viscous as it's drying. It penetrates really well.

 

[bernie]

How does the 50/50 lacquer mix or the clear epoxy systems compare with Minwax wood hardener?

 

[john lucas]

I've never used the minwax wood hardener because I already had the 2 mentioned above and they work fine. It's made to toughen up rotten wood so I would guess that it would work fine.

 

[squirrel]

Hi,

if you use the epoxy to hardens the rotten wood ... what kind of finishing coat to you use to end? A lacker, a varnish and which one?

Best regards - Squirrel

 

[squirrel]

Hi,

if you use the epoxy to hardens the rotten wood ... what kind of finishing coat to you use to end? A lacker, a varnish and which one?

Best regards - Squirrel

 

[Matthew Clarke]

I've never used the minwax wood hardener because I already had the 2 mentioned above and they work fine. It's made to toughen up rotten wood so I would guess that it would work fine.

I've used the minwax wood hardener to turn a finial made of maple that had a punky section and it turned out well. Once the finial was turned, it took two coats of shellac sanding sealer just as normal. I then painted it (ebonized ?) black and top coated with gel polyurethane.

Matt

 

[john lucas]

I have used lacquer, shellac, minwax wipe on poly, and True-0il on pieces that were repaired with the thinned lacquer or epoxy. No problems so far.

 

[Dave Roller]

For me, a timely thread. I'm making some small pieces using spalted white oak. The last few pieces of wood come from a rather punky section of the log, and I'm having a heck of a time with them. I'll try John's suggestion first since I have the "makings" at hand. Then , maybe, the Minwax.