Spalted Wood - Divits

[Leviblue]

I started turning a piece of spalted maple yesterday, everything was going along fine. I liked the cigar design and had been placing CA on the blanks every so often.
When I started building up the finish, I noticed some of the spalted or worm tunnels were not filling in completely with the finish.
My question is, are these divots okay and acceptable for a final product? How have other dealt with this?

Thanks
Kevin

 

[robutacion]

I started turning a piece of spalted maple yesterday, everything was going along fine. I liked the cigar design and had been placing CA on the blanks every so often.
When I started building up the finish, I noticed some of the spalted or worm tunnels were not filling in completely with the finish.
My question is, are these divots okay and acceptable for a final product? How have other dealt with this?

Thanks
Kevin

Mate, a few pics would be great, so that we can see whats going on and advise accordingly...!

Cheers
George

 

[Mark]

Not to detract from you getting a solution.

In finishing some of my red oak pens, I don't try to fill all the grain. Customer feedback has suggested that it gives it a more realistic feel, as opposed to feeling like plastic. Just my $.02

Good Luck.

 

[1080Wayne]

I think it depends on the customer . I fill them in because that is my personal preference - but that doesn`t give the customer a choice . You could experiment by doing both .

 

[Rangertrek]

You may need to "soak" in the tunnel trails. The material is soft and will soak up a lot of CA. I did about 12 spalted pecan blanks a few months back and learned quite a bit about how to finish. Just keep soaking until you get a stable surface. Turn a little, add CA, turn some more, add CA. Well.... you get the idea. You do need to fill all the grain in case something turns loose! (Don't ask how I know this!)

The trails on my pecan turned darker than surrounding wood and were quite distinctive.

 

[SDB777]

You may need to "soak" in the tunnel trails. The material is soft and will soak up a lot of CA. I did about 12 spalted pecan blanks a few months back and learned quite a bit about how to finish. Just keep soaking until you get a stable surface. Turn a little, add CA, turn some more, add CA. Well.... you get the idea. You do need to fill all the grain in case something turns loose! (Don't ask how I know this!)

The trails on my pecan turned darker than surrounding wood and were quite distinctive.

Good advise!

Spalted wood is finicky, and requires a little more attention then a typical 'hard/solid' piece of wood.....




Scott (crosscut spalted pecan is a PITA...but beautiful) B

 

[Fred]

You might consider using Curtis' Cactus Juice and his stabilizing device. Bet you would get spectacular results.

I use black Ebony dust from sanding a reject piece of wood with 600 grit sandpaper. Thin Ca reacts almost instantly so you should build up slowly until the cavity is filled. Another good fill is Cocobolo dust, same 600 grit dust. Stand back as CA and Cocobolo definitely react V E R Y quickly. Keep the dust off your fingers/hand and keep the CA far away from dusty skin. Instant burns may result if you are careless in the least little bit.