Fixing Joint Gaps

[rickluce]

Hello All, Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180 degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Don

[Andy]

I know exactly what you mean about grand canyon-sized gaps! I've had fairly good luck with inserting leftover pieces of veneer (sanded thinner if necessary, with a touch of glue or putty) into the gaps, then sanding the surface carefully. You can orient the veneer different ways as necessary to come close to matching grain patterns. It's easier to work with if you use a bigger piece of veneer (leave some sticking out while the glue dries) and then trim it with a razor knife and hand sand. What kind of wood is it? If you can't get veneer, maybe a thickish hand plane shaving from scrap would work. I think glue-and-sawdust would work well too - could you scratch or stain this filler to more closely match the grain on the staves? Practice on scrap, of course - I could see myself messing something up by trying to stain a 1/100" scratch in some filler that wouldn't really be visible anyway... Good luck, and let us know what works, Andy

[Wood Butcher]

Veneer strips, cut to match the grain orientation, glued in?

Art

[rickluce]

Thanks for the info, and I would use this method if this was a long grain glueup, but this is an end grain glueup with bisquits to tie the end grain together, so your method would make the veneer strips 90 degrees to the direction of the grain. In other words my gap runs 90 degrees to the grain direction. Basicly what I have is 4 pieces of 3/4 x 5 x 3 3/16 pieces of wood with (8) 22.5 miters. They Join together via a bisquit and form a 180 degree arch that is 3/4 inch thick and 5 inches wide( or deep if your looking at the front of the arch)

[John Girouard]

Perhaps you could rout out a small 1/4" or 1/2" wide by 1/8" deep channel, and cut/fit some contrasting wood as an inlay?

-John

[dadiOH]

Rub some white glue in them and sand immediately. Or use cyanoacrylate the same way. Latter will wind up dark, former lighter.

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[Larry Jaques]

On 10 Oct 2005 12:20:07 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "rickluce" quickly quoth:

How about inlaying a piece of silver or bronze wire there as an added "feature"? It wouldn't take much to pull it off.

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[George]

If the gap is small and non-structural, as you indicate, save some of the dust from your sanding with 180 grit and rub it into the joint before and immediately after applying your sanding sealer or first coat of varnish. The fact that the grain changes direction at the joint will always be apparent, so a small gap filled this way will not be as glaring. It will also look more natural than one packed with an oil-impervious sawdust and acrylic patch.

If you do go with a glue/sawdust fill, use of solvent finishes that build will minimize the dead fish luster.

[RonB]

With that size of gap I think I would try the old glue and sanding approach. I am afraid anything you insert that adds a cross-grain appearance will stick out worse than the sawdust patch.

RonB

[rickluce]

Thanks for the posts all. I think with the information you gave me my project will be a success