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Filling voids

Robert Feingold

Robert Feingold

Joined
Jun 14, 2011
Messages
119
Likes
64
Location
Brooklyn, NY
How does one fill voids with black? Embossing powder? where do you get it, What is mixed with it? Epoxy? I'm mostly thinking about filling checking or other relatively small voids.
Thanks,
Rob
 
I use carbon black (soot), available from any art supply store as the pigment. For other than very thin cracks, I usually use 5-minute epoxy as the binder. Only a tiny bit of carbon black is needed. For thin cracks, I sometimes use medium CA glue. In that case, I squeeze the CA onto the crack and mix in a tiny bit of carbon black using a thin putty knife or a flat screwdriver blade and squeeze the result into the crack.

It usually is a good idea to mask off the area around the repair or seal it with a bit of your intended final finish before doing the above. This is to avoid black getting into the pores of the wood outside of the repair or staining by CA glue.

Dennis
 
I find if its a knot void, I mix instant coffee with CA glue or epoxy. It matches the knot colors really well or I use inlace ( the color beek), looks nice in a dark wooded bowl.
 
Robert Feingold said:
How does one fill voids with black? Embossing powder? where do you get it, What is mixed with it? Epoxy? I'm mostly thinking about filling checking or other relatively small voids.
Thanks,
Rob
Click to expand...

Rob, check with Craft Supply, they have a number of pre mixed fillers one of which is black. It's epoxy and it stinks really bad.... but it works well.
 
I use epoxy and black shoe dye or black india ink. If you need to thicken it I use black powdered tempera paint or ground up black chalk.
 
I have used just about anything that comes to mind -- black CA, clear CA mixed with TransFast dye powder, black acrylic paint and epoxy, Inlace and black Inlace powder, etc. I also use old coffee grounds with CA. Dry them in the sun and then store in a jar. The coffee grounds are a very good match for bark inclusions in mesquite. I also use various other things like clear Inlace mixed with various things. There is also a clear slow setting epoxy that works very well. The slow setting allows air bubbles time to escape. Most epoxy has a yellow cast, but look for the clear variety.
 
West System with 207 hardener is clear. System 3 Mirror coat is very clear and very viscous as it cures. It will penetrate the smallest crack and will actually run through the pores on some wood.
 
West System

I use West System 105 epoxy resin with 207 special clear hardener and 423 graphite powder.

Quote from the West System Product Guide: "For colors other than white or gray, powdered pigments (tempera paint, colored tile grout, aniline dyes) and universal tinting pigment can be added to the epoxy mixture. Acrylic paste pigments (available from marine chandleries) are also used to tint the mixture, as long as they are specified for use with polyester or epoxy resin. 423 Graphite Powder will color the epoxy black or impart darker shades to colors.

Generally, coloring agents can be added to the mixed epoxy up to 5% by volume with minimal effect on the cured epoxy's strength."

There is a mountain of information about epoxy on the West System web site. Check it out at http://www.westsystem.com/ss/. - John
 
I like Johns idea best, I don't think clear will sell, regardless of cool factor. Toner is very black, but is pretty hazardous because of the particle size and the content. Coffee will remain black to brown under the inevitable UV exposure it will get.
 
I haven't filled with black. Many years ago, the company I work for re-keyed the building. I asked the guy in charge of security if I could have the brass filings. Somewhere in my shop/garage I have about 3 or 4 pounds of find brass filings. I've filled voids with them, using CA glue. It can make for a very interesting contrast.
 
key "brass"

John Solie said:
I haven't filled with black. Many years ago, the company I work for re-keyed the building. I asked the guy in charge of security if I could have the brass filings. Somewhere in my shop/garage I have about 3 or 4 pounds of find brass filings. I've filled voids with them, using CA glue. It can make for a very interesting contrast.
Click to expand...


Not sure of much brass in keys. I got some from true value hardware, and some froom HOme Despot. The latter were finer. Both left a "mottled" brass and were not very pretty.I had soome real brass froom an music horn repair guy, and tried to sand filings-they were prettier and brassy, but hard to get alot of dust without a lot of work. Maybe I had too much superglue in them. I usually use some colors from CSUSA and I like malochite green (Like MSU green color), Got black, and others. I have used nat saw dust, but the glue makes it darker and sticks out like you tried to repair it. Green and the real brass looks like you hit the motherload!!!, Gretch
 
I like to use stone to fill cracks and voids to provide a focal point and color contrast to the wood. I use lapis, malachite, turquoise, red coral, onyx, red pipestone, azurite and chrysacolla. Using a homemade rock crusher (a 6" threaded 1" pipe with a cap and a steel rod) and an old bowl to sort the crushed stone, it's easy to fill cracks and holes of almost any size. If the crack or hole goes all the way through the piece, I use clear packaging tape to seal off one side while I fill the other and seal it in place with CA glue. I then take the tape off and finish that side.
 
I "won" a coffee can full of brass key filings at one of our club meetings a few years ago. I was very unimpressed with the drab dirty brass look that it gave using either CA or epoxy as a binder. So, I passed along my "winnings" to other unsuspecting souls.
 
Gretch Flo said:
Not sure of much brass in keys. I got some from true value hardware, and some froom HOme Despot. The latter were finer. Both left a "mottled" brass and were not very pretty.I had soome real brass froom an music horn repair guy, and tried to sand filings-they were prettier and brassy, but hard to get alot of dust without a lot of work. Maybe I had too much superglue in them. I usually use some colors from CSUSA and I like malochite green (Like MSU green color), Got black, and others. I have used nat saw dust, but the glue makes it darker and sticks out like you tried to repair it. Green and the real brass looks like you hit the motherload!!!, Gretch
Click to expand...

These weren't the regular type of keys you get at home depot. This was from a corporate re-key and the keys are brass (I have two, which have a nice patina on them). They did darken on the one bowl I still have. I've thought of putting that bowl back on the lathe and see if I can brighten that brass back up. 🙂
 
John King said:
I use West System 105 epoxy resin with 207 special clear hardener and 423 graphite powder.

Quote from the West System Product Guide: "For colors other than white or gray, powdered pigments (tempera paint, colored tile grout, aniline dyes) and universal tinting pigment can be added to the epoxy mixture. Acrylic paste pigments (available from marine chandleries) are also used to tint the mixture, as long as they are specified for use with polyester or epoxy resin. 423 Graphite Powder will color the epoxy black or impart darker shades to colors.

Generally, coloring agents can be added to the mixed epoxy up to 5% by volume with minimal effect on the cured epoxy's strength."

There is a mountain of information about epoxy on the West System web site. Check it out at http://www.westsystem.com/ss/. - John
Click to expand...

I was looking at that info and it started ringing a bell. I used to drive right past this place everyday on my way to work. We used their epoxy to make repairs in concrete. Small world.
 
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