Gaps and Gaps and Gaps

[VisualPun]

Howdy all, afraid I need help with this blasted year 12 project.
I'm building a large computer desk, but I've made a few joints too quickly, resulting in gaps throughout the project, some large some small.
My teacher insists I inject PVC into the gaps, then sand the surface so the sawdust then fills the gap to a matching color, but I fear i'll get a dodgy finish because PVC acts differently to lacquer than timber. I was considering buying some Mahogany gap filler, but my timber has a range of colors that will make the gap filler stand out.
Is there a better way of filling gaps, or should I just go with the PVC method?

http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...ualPun/036.jpg
(A large view of the entire table top)
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...ualPun/015.jpg
(One of the gaps)
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...ualPun/007.jpg
(A close up)

Any help is very much appreciated

[BobL]

You are right you need to worry about how the finish will interact with whatever you do. Before you deal with the real thing I would strongly recommend making a half dozen similar size gaps using scraps and try a range of stuff (e.g. slivers of wood, coloured wax, epoxy, etc using different woods.)

[dr4g0nfly]

I know you think different but they are not that big really - are they!

Have you considered a neutral grain filler with some sanding dust mixed in.

[switt775]

Another option might be to use a router to cut a groove, and insert a feature strip of a contrasting timber.

[conwood]

what switt775 said

[joe greiner]

what switt775 said

Ditto. And also at all the good joints for consistency.

Cheers,
Joe

[Arron]

Those gaps look pretty small to me.
The larger gaps I'd be filling with very thin slivers of the solid timber. What I sometimes do is use shavings cut with a plane from an offuct of the same piece of timber as the crosspieces were cut - and press them in sideways, using the glue as a lubricant, with a tiny tap from a hammer if need be.

Very fine gaps I'd use timber filler. Buy two types of filler, the mahogany filler and a darker one. Roll balls of each colour together so that you can match the timber as you go, making it darker or lighter as you need it. In general, if it cant be identical make it darker - it wont draw the eye as timber has natural flaws and they are almost always darker then the rest.

By PVC I think you mean PVA. Using PVA and sanding dust is an age-old trick in the trade, but I find it goes overly dark.

Use caution before taking to your table top with a router. Routing is a high-risk operation - if you are not particularly experienced with a router it can easily go wrong and when routers go wrong they go very wrong - you dont want to be swapping your tiny gaps for big ones.

cheers
Arron

[jamarpa]

I also was shown the pvc/sanddust fix at school (some 35 years ago) and have some times since then have used that method with mixed results. Just getting serious about woodwork as a hobby so thank you VisualPun for asking the question. The answers to me now are obvious but that might just be 35 years of life lessons.

[soundman]

I know this thread is a little stale now...BUT

PVA and sawdust works pretty poorly...its an adaption of an old method using various older resins and it simply does not translate well with PVA.

There are any number of fillers that work better the best being epoxy...yes you can mix sawdust with epoxys and it works quite well..or simply tint the epoxy.

cheers

[Jerry Thompson]

I don't know if you have done anything about the gaps but hide glue could well work. I would put it into the voids until they are full. Allow the glue to dry overnight and sand flush. Hide glue will take your stain/dye. If you don't like it put a damp cloth on it and let it dissove and dig it out.
I use hide glue on 95% of my projects and love it.