Making filler for cherry?

[toller]

If I make filler by mixing cherry dust with glue, will it darken like the rest of the wood? If not, any suggestions? (I mean other than being skillful enough that I don't need filler.)

[Doug Miller]

If you're using lye to darken it, definitely yes.

If you're just letting nature take its course, I'd guess yes, but I don't know.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[Robatoy]

Odds of it darkening at the same rate and intensity are not good..just a hunch. It would probably matter which glue was used as well... again.. just a hunch. The PVA would tend to stay lighter than hide-glue... me thinks. I have seen pva spots show up after a few years...~ahem~... on somebody else's work.... of course.

I had some success with a small dent and cherry dust and cyanoacrylate... clean up with acetone.

[toller]

I've never used cyanoacrylate for anything like this. I though it had to be anerobic to cure. Is there a trick to it?

[Hax Planks]

You could inlay a new piece of cherry instead of using filler.

[fredfighter]

A forty year old built-in ash bookcase at my mother's house has developed a nice patina. Right around the joints there are blotches of lighter wood. They look to me to be where glue that oozed out was wiped off with a damp rag.

My guess is that there was some glue residue left in the pores of the wood and they block either UV light, oxygen or both better than the finish alone.

Based on that, I'd hazard a guess that glue/cherry dust wood filler will not darken just like the surrounding cherry.

I suggest using3 lb shellac and wood flour for filler, and put at least one coat of shellac on the piece as a first coat when finishing.

[Robatoy]

It is moisture activated, I think 7% will do it. There are accelerators available, just for wood. It is a part of this cyenoacrylate system:

think it's water.

[toller]

Actually just opposite. I made paste out of varnish, glue, and shellac; and then put samples out in the sun for a week. The varnish and glue got very dark very fast. The shellac darkened sorta like the cherry, so you are correct that is the right choice.

Why shellac as a first coat? I can do that of course, but wonder about the reason.

BTW. I bit the bullet and ran the edge through the jointer 8 times to blow by the worst of the defect. I didn't do that originally because I was afraid of hitting a biscuit; but decided the biscuit would be no worse than the defect. It is still not perfect, but much better.

[fredfighter]

shellac; and

OK.

Three reasons.

1) Since there is shellac in the wood filler going over the whole piece with shellac provides a uniform effect and base for the next coat. 2) Shellac resists the diffusion of water vapor better than other finishes. A first coat of shellac helps to stabilize the project. 3) Shellac sticks well and dries on pretty much all wood. Some woods (Cherry is not one) interfere with the proper curing of oil finishes varnishes or lacquers. Sealing the surface with shellac avoids that problem. Shellac also has a reputation for helping to stop resins from seeping out of softwoods forming blisters under the finish. Again, not a problem with Cherry. Pretty much all finishes go well on top of _dewaxed_ shellac so it is nearly universally appropriate as a first coat. Do you use the 3 lb shellac as the coat, however, dilute it to 1 or 1 1/2 lbs, much easier to manage.

Shellac's weaknesses are alcohol and liquid water. The former will lift it, and the later will make milky spots on it. So for a lot of applications you need to put something else over the top.

[toller]

Thanks