Blanks with Botanicals

[RGVPens]

Looking at the picture you can see two little spots on left end. There are one or two smaller spots on the rest of the blank. They are not as bad/big as they look. I wanted the light to shine on them to see in a picture.

What do you guys do with botanical blanks when it craters? There seems to always be a spot or two where the plant is not the same level as the Alumilite, or whatever, and makes a little divot. Does that make it clear as mud?

I sanded to 600, used 2 coats light Glu Boost and 3 coats medium. Then wet sanded MM through 12,000. I haven't polished yet but will use One Step when I do.

I'm at the bushings so don't want to try and turn farther. I've run into this before but managed to sand it till "OK" looking. Or am I being too picky?

Would you polish and assemble as is...or do something else? If so...what?

 

[Fine Engineer]

I would fill those in with medium CA, then sand it down and go through the MM steps again.
Typically I look for depressions or other flaws at the 1500 grit MM stage and deal with them there. The clear fill will be far less noticeable than the depressions.

 

[1080Wayne]

Medium CA to fill , but be careful not to trap air in the hole . Let the CA run into the hole from one side if possible , rather than flooding it over the top .

 

[walshjp17]

I would take a dental pick-like tool and clear out the divot then fill with some CA that has been tinted with a color prominent in the blank.

 

[KMCloonan]

All of the above, but I would add to be sure to let the CA cure/dry. Don't use accelerator (unless you have one that does not turn the CA cloudy.) Once dry, I typically use 240 to 320 grip sandpaper to gently sand down the CA "bump", then wipe with a dry cloth to remove dust, then, if everything looks ok, proceed with micromesh wet sanding. I have been in a hurry before, and tried wet-sanding the CA before it was completely dry, and the CA that was deeper in the hole that was being filled turned white, and I ended up with a dental pick trying to pick it out.