Tear-out on oak - repairing the edge

[Jay Pique]

What do y'all use to fix an edge on a piece of wood? I had a bit of splintering in spite of climb-cutting with the router. What I ended up doing was using a few layers of wood putty, building it up/sanding it to shape gradually. It worked, but it was time consuming.

What I'd like to do is clamp a waxed board to the edge where the tear out occurred, then squeeze some _________ (insert appropriate product name here) on it, let it set, and then just sand it to shape. It needs to be fairly compatible with the wood for finishing purposes.

Any suggestions?

Thanks - JP

[xrongor]

ive had good luck using 30 minute epoxy mixed with sanding dust from the piece to form a wood paste. ive found you can get away with thicker coats than just regular wood putty. depending on the finish it may or may not match. test it first for your particular application.

randy

[George]

Make a piece of scrap into a patch. With something like oak, you can join where the pores are large almost invisibly. Rout the patch.

You can make a reverse mold if you want, but it would take longer than the other method.

[Bay Area Dave]

I use wood to patch wood. that way it will LOOK like wood...

dave

Jay Pique wrote:

[Mike G]

Never found a filler, commercial or home brew that was worth a damn for anything but filling very small brad holes. If you want it to look like wood you trim it up, glue matching wood to it, then reshape..

[Scott]

As someone said, with porous woods like oak, using a patch of wood is simple. I've had tearouts while routing the spruce top of a guitar, or rosewood sides and backs, and even then was able to get an invisible repair (must admit the spruce top was a heart-stopper for a few minutes!). Shave off a piece with the same color and grain orientation, carve it a bit to fit the hole, then apply a small amount of superglue and clamp. After drying, shape to the desired look. Magic!

[Jay Pique]

Thanks all. The putty worked, but doesn't exactly blend finish-wise. Next time I'll patch for sure.

JP