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Epoxy for ebony dust inlay

J

Jeffrey Tomas

Joined
Jan 12, 2010
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Location
Los Angeles
Hello!
I'm are brand new turner here. ...love the forum btw!
I've poured over the threads and searched about but I'm having trouble with my recent project.
I'm working with a piece of solid walnut - turning a vase about 10" long x 4" diameter at widest. Just a beginning piece. I encountered some short cracks and a few wormy holes that I can't pass of as attractive. I decided to carve out a couple "trees", one on each side of the vase. My plan is to inlay some ebony dust mixed with ..... epoxy. I tried CA first on some scrap but couldn't get the CA I had on hand to penetrate/wick far enough. It ended up chipping out with some dust remaining unglued.

Eventually I gave up, switching to epoxy I also had on hand.. some 2 part stuff that either due to age (11 years old but unused) or just it's type, takes a long time to set up (about 6 hours). On the rounded surface of this vase this epoxy was thin enough to run all over. ...and of course just coated the bottom of the carved out areas as it leaked away. HELP!

Do I use the thicker Home Depot 5 minute epoxies for this? .... and what about the tiny bubbles that seem to appear when mixing that type of glue?

Frustrated,
Jeff 😕
 
For smaller areas I use the box store 5 minute epoxy. I mix it with alcohol based black shoe dye. The ebony dust will make it thicker so it won't run as bad but may change the drying time. Run a test.
For larger areas I prefer Black Inlace. You can mix the Inlace and let it sit until it starts to thicken. Then apply it. I have been able to apply it all the way around a hollow vessel this way. You have to let it thicken up to about peanut butter consistency but it is trying to harden at this point so you have to work quick.
Another option is to build a dam. I've used clay to surround an area. Then I fill this with epoxy and let it dry. Turn it all away later. If you don't have clay the putty style of epoxy that looks like clay works well to make the dam.
I fixed my transmission this way. JBweld high heat formula runs to much to build up a repair so I built a dam out of plummers epoxy and filled that with the JB weld. Over the years the heat has destroyed the plummers epoxy but the JBWeld is still there and the old Toyota is 230,ooo miles strong.
 
I was going to recommend black CA, but since you have already tried it, I am not so sure how well epoxy filled with ebony dust is going to stick. I think that trying to fill the epoxy with wood dust is going to be a problem. Instead, try one of the black powder dyes or use Inlace with black Inlace dye. A simple filler that I like to use with mesquite is coffee grounds. Put some coffee grounds in a defect then apply a few drops of thin CA and finally sprinkle some grounds on top of the whole thing to cover up any evidence of the CA. It looks great on mesquite and maybe it would also work on walnut.
 
I'm in the epoxy and whatever camp. Thirty-minute epoxy gives enough open time, and has more immediate strength than 5-minute. My "whatevers" so far include coffee grounds, key-cutting shavings, copper powder, and someday soon ground pecan shells.

I mix a "mortar" for placement in the gaps. I pack it proud of the final surface, wait about a day, then cut and sand to produce an almost terrazzo finish. Like this: http://www.aawforum.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=5999

I'm surprised your 11-year-old epoxy set up at all. Loctite has a one-year shelf life; Permatex two years. Both of them use a mystery code for production date, and different codes of course. Their hot line phone contact can advise. JB Weld asserts unlimited shelf life, but it isn't transparent.
 
I use the 5 minute epoxy all the time to fill small cracks. Haven't had a problem with adhesion. The only problem I've had is if I want to fill too many areas the stuff starts to harden if I'm not fast enough.
I do have problems with air bubbles. I have those with all of the epoxy, casting resins and Inlace. Anyone got a solution? sometimes I can just fill them with more resin mixture but quite often the surface tension of the mixture won't let it fill the hole. You don't find out until you sand the surface flush and then the hole is still there. Tried filling with thin and medium CA. Works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. My best results have been when I take a Dremel with small round bit and enlarge and maybe elongate the hole. Then fill.
 
reducing air bubbles

I recall seeing the use of a vacuum pump to remove air bubbles from an epoxy mixture. Can't remember when,where or details. I have not tried this but it makes sense to me. It would likely require making some kind of disposable dish and vacuum adapter lid/sealing plate. May work by putting the mixture container in a vacuum bag too. Probably not a practical method for small batches of epoxy but something to think about it you already have a vacuum pump.
 
I like to use black epoxy for things like this. One of my local hardware stores carries Devcon epoxy in black.
 
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