I’m new to woodworking so be kind. I’ve glued up this box and have a seam between the bottom of the box and the top of the legs. I know of at least 4 ways I could have prevented this, but that will not change where I’m at now. I’ve read books, been through this discussion board and cannot find an exact fix to my problem. I’ve tried mixing walnut sanding dust with shellac and filling a gouge in a piece of scrap but the fix appears as a light colored line. The wood is walnut and I was going to finish it natural with wipe on poly. Can anyone give me a detailed description of repair procedure, seeing as I am still learning? I’m assuming this will mean dyes and small artist brushes.
Thanks!
Replies
If it were me, I would pop the foot off, plane it smooth where it joins the box, clean up the filler and then insert a piece of walnut veneer into any seam that still shows. Leave the veneer proud of the joint until the glue is well dried then pare it off flush with the surface of the joint.
If you can't remove the bracket foot, another option is to pare or rout a small channel/groove along the edge of the seam, trim a piece of facegrain walnut to fit the groove, glue it in place and then carefully smooth the surface. I have a small 1/16" paring chisel that would work well for such a job.
Take your time with any repairs. Remember, this is fun and the minute is starts to feel like work put the tools down and step away from the bench!
Regards,
Ron
It's an opportunity for a design detail. Rout out a strip along the bottom - all the way around and use a contrasting wood or some inlay banding like this:
http://www.rockler.com/CategoryView.cfm?Cat_ID=1445
I would use a sliver from a piece of the scrap of the same process, taking care to match the grain as closely as possible. Glue in place using hide glue. Plane flush. Then, if there are small lines where you aren't able to insert a wood sliver, prepare your wood, through the point of having completed your first top coat application. This is the time to use a filler to match the color of your wood and fill any remaining small crack.
what Steve said.
Are you able to run a fine tool saw through the joint and then simply clean up with a plane & re-glue?
T.Z.
jp,
All good options offered so far. But for a minimum-effort aproach (and assuming those gaps are less than the thickness of veneer - about 0.6mm) I would find a colour-match filler and use that.
Here are some options as sold by Lee Valley. There are many other brands of similar stuff; I like Liberon myself.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=3&cat=1,190&p=42997
The "hard" wax filler is easiest to match and to apply. It's best put in after other finishing is complete, which alows the best colour match. Polish any excess away by using a normal soft wax of the same colour on the piece. This tends to "melt" and blend the hard wax filler left on the surfaces around the filled gap whilst leaving the hard stuff flush in the gap.
The stuff you melt in has to be used before the finish goes on, so colour match is a bit more difficult. Finish a sample of the timber used to get an idea of what the final colour of the finished piece will be. Excess of that harder filler around the filled gap can be sanded off. I's toghr than the "hard" wax so can be used for slightly larger gaps and holes.
You can also combine use of a veneer "stuffer" with one of these fillers - useful if the gap varies in width (i.e. part filled by the veneer slice glued into it but still leaving some voids).
Generally it's best to use a filler slightly darker than the wood but of the same shade (eg with a red, brown, yellow or other predominant hue). A lighter-filled gap looks much worse than a darker-filled one. Also, most timbers darken a little with time so a darker filler will begin to match the surrounding wood more closely as time passes.
Lataxe
I would cut it/them off using a nice thin Japanese saw then plane the bottom flat and square. Shoot the feet, ( that sounds wrong ), on a shooting board, and reattach the feet.
May need to clamp the feet or back up with a large block clamped to the shooting board.
If that ruins the proportions of the molded feet then resort to adding a layer from the same stock, plane that flat and then add the feet. May be easier to, at that point, recut the feet from new stock.
You wanted detail so I would add:
To plane the bottom of the box butt it against the side of your bench, support the work from bellow and plane toward the side of the bench so it doesn't stress the joints. My bench is against the wall so is very rigid for this pushing from the side work. Better ergonomics than putting the work on top of the bench. Too high.
roc
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )
Thank all of you for the suggestions. This was my first time and this was great to get all these good ideas. I ordered a japanese saw yesterday and am going to cut the legs off and resquare everything. Does anyone see anything wrong with making a light trim cut( .020-.030) on the box by going back through the table saw once the legs are off? My planing skill are not that great yet and I really don't want to make matters worse. Thanks again!
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