Filling gum vein in Huon Slab- turquoise inlay?

Hi ladies and gents,

I'm trying to decide what to do with the gum veins in the huon pine slab i'm making into a coffee table. Two options I'm contemplating:

1. Use a black or clear coloured epoxy resin. (As I've read colour matching is to be steered clear of).
2. Filling with turquoise or other gem stone inlay (see pic 2). Not sure of the process but i gather you mix up crushed gems with some sort of epoxy or glue. Anyone tried this?

Also I'll be finishing with hard shellac, does anyone know how this would interact with the above options?

Cheers,
Damen

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Originally Posted by ribbet

Two options I'm contemplating:

[LIST=1][*]Use a black or clear coloured epoxy resin. (As I've read colour matching is to be steered clear of).[*]Filling with turquoise or other gem stone inlay (see pic 2).

Cheers,
Damen

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Not sure of the process either but for effect I think the Turquoise looks stunning. Can't see any problem with shellac finish, except it may take away from the gemstone colour unless you used a blond or dewaxed blond variety.

Cheers

Steve

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Originally Posted by toolbagsPLUS

Not sure of the process either but for effect I think the Turquoise looks stunning. Can't see any problem with shellac finish, except it may take away from the gemstone colour unless you used a blond or dewaxed blond variety.

Cheers

Steve

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I agree the effect does look stunning. Yes the Hard Shellac is dewaxed so should be okay.

Could also use black onyx, jasper or mother of pearl as an alternative maybe? I've got curly jarrah to be used as the base so maybe even jasper to match the red jarrah?

Hi Ribbet,

If you use embedding resin available from laboratory suppliers and used normally for embedding insects etc for permanent display rather than mixing up your own brew of epoxy you can adjust the hardness of the embedding resin by selecting the amount of hardener you use. This makes the process of sanding flat so much easier especially in soft timbers such as HP as with epoxy you then have the challenge of sanding off something that is far harder than the surrounding substrate. Another tip don't spread the epoxy or the embedding resin all over the joint. Carefully mask the surrounds of the area to be filled with masking tape and don't go outside that. Both those products are deep penetrating and they need a lot of shifting. Just remembered somebody told me you can also get the embedding resin or equivalent in fibre-glass supply shops. Good luck.

old pete

It's a common technique in woodturning. :)

Other medium that are often used are coffee beans(!!), brass powder and the like. Often we'll dry-pack the fill in layers and flood with CA, but this isn't a good idea for a coffee table. Resin is the way to go. :yes: Considering the colour of Huon, I'd say that a dark brown - such as coffee beans - would be the more subtle fill, while turqoise would be "in your face."

Depends on what effect you're after, of course.

It's also a good idea to paint the cavity with a suitable wetting agent (or even a small amount of hardener) before doing the pour, to help improve bonding and reduce air-bubbles stuck to the sides.

All in all, with any new (to you) fill it's a very good idea to experiment on a piece of scrap first. :wink:

Tell me ribbet, where did you get the gemstones????

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

It's a common technique in woodturning. :)

Other medium that are often used are coffee beans(!!), brass powder and the like. Often we'll dry-pack the fill in layers and flood with CA, but this isn't a good idea for a coffee table. Resin is the way to go. :yes: Considering the colour of Huon, I'd say that a dark brown - such as coffee beans - would be the more subtle fill, while turqoise would be "in your face."

Depends on what effect you're after, of course.

It's also a good idea to paint the cavity with a suitable wetting agent (or even a small amount of hardener) before doing the pour, to help improve bonding and reduce air-bubbles stuck to the sides.

All in all, with any new (to you) fill it's a very good idea to experiment on a piece of scrap first. :wink:

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I tested some epoxy resin over the weekend on a scrap of huon to get an idea of the colour. I mixed three tiny batches using black pigment, red (jarrah red) pigment, and a mixture of the two for a brown colour. I dropped carefully into some voids in the surface and let dry for 24 hours. Then sanded back to about 1500 and gave a few coats of Hard Shellac. The results weren't great, all colours look a bit too much like ink and are a matte finish.

Skew, could you tell me more about the coffee beans? Do you grind to a fine dust ans simply add to the epoxy when mixing part A and B? Sounds like it would give it a more natural look than the pigments.

...Agreed about giving away the idea of the turqouise. After the initial "magpie to a shiney object" excitement about the turqouise it dawned on me that the grain in the huon IS the feature and than excentuating the gum veins would take the focus away from the grain.

Cheers,
Damen

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Originally Posted by Mulgabill

Tell me ribbet, where did you get the gemstones????

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Didn't end up aquring any. Though I did do a bit of a search around for some and found a couple of suppliers in Melbourne. Also one seller on ebay in the USA:

http://cgi.ebay.com/GENUINE-TURQUOIS...3%3A1|294%3A50

Cheers,
Damen

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ribbet

Skew, could you tell me more about the coffee beans? Do you grind to a fine dust ans simply add to the epoxy when mixing part A and B? Sounds like it would give it a more natural look than the pigments.

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To the best of my knowledge the most common is simply used ground beans, that're added during mixing the epoxy. This gives a fairly even colour and consistency, without actually being just a stain.

But I've also seen fresh ground & intact beans used for texture. :)

It's really one of those hit'n'miss things, depending on what results you're hoping for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

To the best of my knowledge the most common is simply used ground beans, that're added during mixing the epoxy. This gives a fairly even colour and consistency, without actually being just a stain.

But I've also seen fresh ground & intact beans used for texture. :)

It's really one of those hit'n'miss things, depending on what results you're hoping for.

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Thanks Skew, I've set up another couple of tests tonight. Pre ground coffee beans in one, and ground jarrah shavings in another. When wet the coffee already looks like the winner - really nice consistency and a more natural brown.

Hmmm now if only i can decide whether to use Columbian or Brazilian Beans, dark roast or decaf, maybe 2 x sugars... :question:

Gotta say, I love the idea of the turquoise in the Huon. The contrast would be great. Have filed that idea for if I ever get a nice slab of Huon with gum veins in it:2tsup:

Hi, what makes the difference is whether you wish to keep or sell your item!
To keep is simple, you do what feels right for you,! To sell is always a measure of the market you enter, it's only a guess!

Jeff