what t0 do with a big knot

[la Huerta]

morn'n all ...

just looking for some heelpfull tips and suggestions on how others would treat a large fairly open knot in some oregon, normally i would just fill with timbermate, but i'm doing a lighter stain and i need it to look natural or atleast not bodgy looking as filler often does...maybe epoxy

[la Huerta]

i as just thinking can i use thick shellac as a filler somehow

[Zed]

oregon is quite brittle, remove it ? or epoxy ?

[DPB]

We probably need more information than you've given. I will assume that the knot is secure and not about to fall out but that it has some fissures or cracks. I would tint clear epoxy with graphite to make it black and fill the cracks with this. :)

[masoth]

I'm with DPB at this point ........... but, I was going to suggest 'untying' it.:o

[la Huerta]

hey masoth, i tried "untying" it but the timber just does not want to come undone...bugger!

yeh the knot/s are the usuall split looking ones, there was one that was loose but a dabed some glue in it when i was clamping the top together, nice timber too , recycled, and 290mm wide...

the epoxy sounds like the way to go, the timbermate putty looks cheap, i saw a dining table made from resawn old teak railway sleepers from South Africa, it was stunning, and had lots of old and rather large bolt holes, but they were filed in, probably was epoxy too...

[NewLou]

I'd cut it out..................If your careful enough you'd be suprised how well you can camoflage a good inlay

N just like magic no more knot or having to muck round with fillers epoxy or color matching

REgards Lou:D:D:D

[Lignum]

i as just thinking can i use thick shellac as a filler somehow

Shellac is what i use to fill most holes and knots. Get a flat sheet of tin and put a decent handfull of shellac flakes on it and sprinkle some metho (not to much) over it and carefully light it. With a stick or long screwdriver give it a mix while its alight and when it just starts to cook and lightly bubble blow it out. Now the test of how tough ur hands are;) :D Before it cools down you put a scoop in the palm of ur hand and rub both together to form the shellac like a cigar. After it has cooled it is perfect to fill holes by using a soldering iron on it and melting it into the holes. It dries in a few secs and can be sanded straight away. The longer its on fire the darker it turnes.

[la Huerta]

sounds fantastic Lignum, i'l bring the marshmellows !

seriously though i like that idea a lot, can the shellac be redesolved after burning it to make a dark shellac?

i was reading on the net somewhere that some guy burns his shellac while on the furniture to help with creating the aged look

[Lignum]

seriously though i like that idea a lot, can the shellac be redesolved after burning it to make a dark shellac?



The longer the flame burns the first time the darker the "cigar" goes. You dont need it to dark even though the Oregan knot is. When you heat up your soldering iron and burn the cigar in so it drips into the hole/knot it dries almost straight away and when you scrape/sand it then when the polish goes on its a nice natural dark look.

You can use blond shelac for the lighter timbers and orange for the darker timbers. You can by shellac sticks (not sure uf u-Beaut sell em) but its easy and fun to make your own, especially when you roll it up:D



can the shellac be redesolved after burning it to make a dark shellac?

i

Dont think so

[la Huerta]

cool ! (or should i say that's hot)

i was just reading on the net and saw dark brown garnet shellac, "the woodworks" sell the flakes, have you or anyone used this and what colour is it really, i'm assuming oak or dark walnut brown colour...

[Lignum]

Garnet goes to dark. The orange you can burn for 10sec and get a light golden brown or burn for 30 sec and get a darker brown or burn for 40 or more sec and it then goes dark brown. Its more versatile than the garnet

[Ashore]

If you can get a forstner bit bigger than the knot and drill 10 mm deep and make a plug from the same board if possible , align the grain and you can bearly notice it,

Rgds

[Wood Borer]

Sometimes rather than disguising it, you can use a constasting timber plug or one of the those dovetail bows to replace the knot. Like I indicated it may not work for every piece.

[Harry72]

Be pretty hard to match up oregon by pluging it, grain is to featured/varied.
Epoxy works...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/ST170ish/one.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/ST170ish/two.jpg

They look a little dull... has 1st sealing coat of poly over it not sanded yet!

[la Huerta]

morn'n !!!

thanks for the pic Harry

overall i think everyones methods are excellent, perhaps a large really bad know could be cut out and a piece of timber fitted in, and smaller knots epoxy or shellac stick...

regarding the garnet shellac, was actually wondering what it's like as a finish, as apposed to tinting shellac....