center of knot...

[Charlie Knighton]

i have roughed out a large crotch black walnut bowl that has sap wood (yellow) and heart wood (black to grey with knots) i have one place on the outside of the bowl that is the center of the knot (knot about 4 inches across) where it is soft, the soft center is about 2 inches long by 1/8 inch wide

any suggestions?? cut out , put stablizer on it, ignore,

i am looking for opinions the bowl will make my meager talents look better

 

[john lucas]

It depends on how it looks but If I think the punky area will be OK I soak it with thin CA if it's a small area. If it's a large area I put multilple coats of Lacquer thinned about 50% with Lacquer thinner. Some people soak the are with white glue thinned 50%. Let it sit 24 hours if you do this.

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Feel free to post a pic to this forum, makes it a lot easier to see what you are talking about.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

pictures

2 pictures i need 10 characters

 

[Jeff Jilg]

It's hard to tell from the picture. But if that is only 1/8" wide in the soft area, another option is to cut into it (off the lathe) and fill it with epoxy. you can color the epoxy with dye. I use black acrylic paint from a tube.

If you pursue this option you will want to use masking tape to surround the area to prevent it from getting all over. The epoxy will cut cleanly when you turn it on the lathe.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Looks like the pith of the branch. If it fills the space, run water-thin CA into it to firm it up in place, and leave it. I probably put a full ounce of CA into a piece I turned yesterday after chores and between shows. It's important to firm things up before you have a random event chip the edge out, or before something otherwise loose, but held on the surface falls out while turning. Jump right on cracks and holes you want filled.

I use bark to stuff around knots. Other folks are, as you can see, are all artificial, even unnatural in what they use, such as contrasting colors and materials. The knot in this waste of time is almost entirely fill. The punky pith is reinforced with CA and packed shavings, the bark surrounding is now a mixture of birch and hard maple bark, and there are a million small cracks that are either still there, filled, or have been filled and cut away en route to what you see. I used cherry dust where the wood is red, birch dust where white, and it's got a chance if I can get my polyurethane slurry to stick in the remaining gaps. See the pits in the highlight area?

Question is why I bothered with such a punky piece in the first place.

Note the advice to put a tape barrier behind your patch if reachable. I know better, but didn't do it on first internal fill, and flung CA all over the freshly sanded outside. That and many other frustrations involving punky or cracked wood makes me wonder how the bowl isn't blue. The air was.

 

[dkulze]

Black Walnut is a wood that has what's called a chambered pith. Litterally, the pith is made up of a series of little chambers, like the inside of some reeds. This will be present in the main trunk and in branches, which looks like where yours comes from.

Ya got two choices, fill it or emphasise it. I tend to do the latter, and either clean it out and leave it, or try to maintain the chambered appearance for that little stretch of texture. If you decide to fill it, you can go for a blend or something that stands out. Sawdust from the heartwood will work for a blend. Something like turquoise inlace can look cool for a contrast. Brass or aluminum shavings from your local key maker can work too.

Dietrich

 

[underdog]

I've been wondering the advisability of soaking a blank in thinned lacquer to stabilize a severely punky spot on the top of a cherry burl blank. I've rounded it but have not begun to shape or hollow it.

I'm thinking of getting a gallon can, and half filling it with a 50/50 lacquer/thinner mix. Then when I have a piece that needs stabilizing, just dunk it in there for an hour or so. A friend of mine uses copius amounts of Deft brushed on, but I wonder if a soak would do better.

Whaddya think?

 

[dkulze]

Actually, I've heard that using 50/50 water/elmer's white glue works well. I'm guessing you'd get better structural support than laquer.

Dietrich

 

[Bill Boehme]

One product that really works well, but is also really expensive is Minwax Wood Hardener. It is water thin and smells like dissolved plastic and gets really hard so I would recommend rough turning as much as possible before using it and then only do a minimal soak until nearly finished and then do a thorough soak. The punkier the wood, the more of the wood hardener gets soaked up and the more difficult it is to turn it. It can be as hard to turn as Corian sometimes. I pay about $10 per pint so I have only used it sparingly except on my first project where I wasted about $30 learning what not to do.

Bill

 

[Randy Rice]

I have used both white glue and lacquer sanding sealer to stabilize punky wood. Of the two, I prefer the 1:1 ratio of nitro-cellulose lacquer sanding sealer: lacquer thinner. It gets brushed on in liberal amounts in serveral applications. This mixture of "Kickapoo Joy Joice" has saved several pieces of very punky nostalgia-wood from the trash.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

center of knot

chambered pith. Litterally, the pith is made up of a series of little chambers, is exactly what i have, i am sorry for the poor pictures. i have seen the punky maple espically when it is yellow and light brown, but i had not seen this center of the knot. chambered pith, i will have to remember that, thanks to all

did ya know if you try to post just pictures with no text in forum, a little box will pop up and tell you that you need 10 characters

sounds like these software programmers know you need more heads than one

 

[Bill Boehme]

......did ya know if you try to post just pictures with no text in forum, a little box will pop up and tell you that you need 10 characters.....

Here's three -- you still need seven more characters.



Bill

 

[Bernie Weishapl]

One thing I have used besides CA on knots and punky wood is a mixture of epoxy and DNA (Denatured Alcohol). It works very well for me. I mix up a batch of epoxy and once mixed good add DNA till it has the consistancey of milk. I then paint this on the punky wood or knot. I just keep adding it on until it won't soak anymore in.