missing piece in jarrah benchtop- HELP

[angela]

Hi-
I'm making a benchtop for my kitchen from glued up jarrah pieces. So far things are going well, except when i was cutting the pieces to length for the longest section of the bench (2.9 m) I broke a "splinter" out. A very large splinter. (see picture). I cut the piece off the remnant and put it back in the hole. It fit fine, and I "put it in a safe place" so I could glue it back on later. (Please don't ask why I didn't glue it back in right away, that would have been logical, and smart.)
So, after I get all the pieces glued up, I went to glue my "splinter" back into the benchtop, only I can't find it!!! I've just about finshed cleaning up the entire workshop, there are only a few places left for me to look, and HWMBO wants to know why I've stopped working on the kitchen to have a massive workshop clean-up! (talk about role reversal!)
Does anyone out there have any ideas on how I can repair this hole in my bench top if I can't find the missing piece? It's going to be just about in the middle of the benchtop, so putty is pretty much out.

Cheers

Angela

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

No chance of flipping that side to the bottom?

(Just eliminating the simplest option first... )

[zenwood]

angela: I think with losing the original, you've lost any easy way of making it invisible. Couple of options: make a stuff-up into a feature by filling it with casting resin, or look into patching it with a dutchman.

[angela]

Unfortunately, one of the pieces on is _really_ damaged on the bottom.

I'm not familiar with the term "dutchman"- is is just a piece of timber cut to fill the hole?

It may be easier to do this to the damaged bottom than to try and make a little triangular wedge that fits on the top.

I'm still looking for the orginal piece, with my fingers crossed.

[zenwood]

Yes angela: 'dutchman' = rout and chisel a neat hole over the broken-out piece, then cut a matching piece to fit in the hole. Plane or sand flush after the glue has dried to get a nice looking patch (almost invisible if you use the same timber).

[OBBob]

I did the dutchman thing in a couple of places in my floor ... you'd be surprised how little it is noticed. Unfortunately murphy's law dictates that you wont find that missing peice until just after you have rectified in another way (then you'l locate it in a really obvious and safe place)!! Sorry.

[angela]

Zenwood, I didn't think of routing out the mistake so I could fit a symmetrical, easily cut piece into the hole. Thanks for the explaination and the diagram.

OBBob, I think Murphy is winning at the moment. I know I didn't just throw it on the floor somewhere, but I can't find it and my workshop is getting distressingly clean.

I think the plan is that I'll give myself a few more days to figure out which "nice, safe place" I put the piece in, an if I don't find it, I'll try the dutchman. If I'm not happy with that, I think I'll put a nice stone insert in the benchtop right over the dutchman. I wanted a stone insert in the benchtop anyway; I've got a nice piece of polished granite picked out already...

thanks for your help

Angela

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I think the plan is that I'll give myself a few more days to figure out which "nice, safe place" I put the piece in, an if I don't find it, I'll try the dutchman. If I'm not happy with that, I think I'll put a nice stone insert in the benchtop right over the dutchman. I wanted a stone insert in the benchtop anyway; I've got a nice piece of polished granite picked out already...

Ah... one of the more advanced woodworking principles: "if you can't hide a mistake, turn it into a feature."

[Spelunx]

Check the shorts you were wearing on the day... it will be in the pocket with the button-down flap..


*speaking from experience*

[Cabbie]

What I do whenI get this happening to me is I chisel it nice n smooth then i find anothe piece which is very close in colour and grain and cut it to fit i. I do it oversize then I sand it smoothwith the benchtop. 9 times out of ten you can't even see that did something wrong.

[Clinton1]

Angela,
As a person that has a lot of experience at bodging up self inflicted stuff-ups ( ), I find that I can usually get an excellent fit for that missing chunk/gouge/splinter by shaving down a bit of scrap, with a chisel, to fit.
Final fitting is gone with sandpaper and chalk. Chalk up the replacement piece, put it in the hole to transfer the chalk marks to the surface of the gouge.... now you can see the high points, and shave/sand away as needed. Blow/brush the chalk off before glue-up.

If I use PVA glue - I mix in a bit of the sawdust to 'colour' the glue, and wax the top surface of the splinter and around the gouge area (on the face/top) to minimise glue discolouring the outline of the repair. I get all technical and use a candle for the waxing.

Its a pretty big gouge, but:
a) if you use a chisel to bevel the sides of the gouge to make them 'flat' (so its easier to match/fit the repair piece) and,
b) because the grain of the piece is not too complex....
you should be able to make a repair as good as using the original, offending, splinter.

I find a small (in size) repair is usually less noticable than a large area that has been patched... and you can always go the bigger repair patch if it doesn't work out.

A smarter man than I would have used 200 less words... apologies for the long winded post.

Edit: Cabbie got in before me and proved he is the smarter man! !!!!