Worm tracks - leave 'em or fill 'em?

[Roger Chandler]

First off..........I despise wood munchin' critters! All except woodturners of course! I have a vision every once in a while of doing a certain form, and then something gets in the way of my vision! I like pristine wood..........at least, those pieces I want for display I want to turn out to really look good. Some folks call things like this "character," I just call them annoying!

My neighbor next door took down an ash tree on our property line about 3 months ago........asked me if I wanted the wood, and of course I said yes.......I like turning ash, and he did not have to haul it off, just put it on pallets next to my firewood pile. I decided I wanted to take a piece of it and do something with it, so I got a log piece about 20" in length and put between centers and proceeded to take off bark and make it cylindrical...........then I began to see the worm tracks!

The worms have left some fill material..........would you pick it out, or leave it as is, and put a finish on it? What is your vote? I have seen some fairly well known turners post about leaving the "material" in as is.............what do you think?

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Wood munchers...........who needs 'em?!!!

[Dale Gillaspy]

I think you answered your own question. "I like pristine wood."
I personally don't like to leave worm droppings in the wood. I would pick it out. Whether you fill it with something else or not is up to you. I think it depends on the piece, but I would definitely pick out the "stuff." Just me.

[steven carter]

I usually just clean the tracks and finish, no fill.

[John Keeton]

Roger, I don't like the appearance of frass, so I remove it. I also don't care for the look of filled holes, unless it is just one or two in an otherwise burly piece of wood and filling them with brown/black material will blend in and not be noticeable.

Ash is notorious for what you have, and for that reason alone, I rarely turn any of it unless it appears very clean.

[Fred Belknap]

Roger I have finished it both ways and I like it removed much better. When you put the finish on it looks like chit which is what it is.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, I don't like the appearance of frass, so I remove it. I also don't care for the look of filled holes, unless it is just one or two in an otherwise burly piece of wood and filling them with brown/black material will blend in and not be noticeable.

Ash is notorious for what you have, and for that reason alone, I rarely turn any of it unless it appears very clean.

I don't like the looks of it either, John.........my thinking was to remove it. Now, I just need to think about getting a suitable filler for the holes......I don't have any inlace on hand, but I do have some brass key filings. With this ash, I think a contrasting color inlace would be acceptable, but I am not a big fan of it either. A red or blue might contrast well with the light colored ash.

[Glen Blanchard]

Roger - I vote for removing the 'stuff' and leaving the voids.

On another note, from your original post it sounds like the pith may still be in there. Yes?? If so, do you make any special accommodations for its presence?

[Robert Henrickson]

I remove it, and leave the holes/tunnels open.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger - I vote for removing the 'stuff' and leaving the voids.

On another note, from your original post it sounds like the pith may still be in there. Yes?? If so, do you make any special accommodations for its presence?

There is a tiny pith off center where the pedestal base is located. I had a crack there, so I saturated it with some CA glue to stabilize that ........will take a good look at the thing when I part off and reverse turn off the bottom ..........if needed I will do it again probably through that worm hole and then fill that as well as the other holes. End grain turnings don't seem to move as much as side grain, so I think I may be okay with this one.

I hate to put work into a piece and then lose it, but if that happens with this one, I will not be too disappointed..........the presence of the worm holes sort of ruined it for me anyway!

[Ben Darrah]

Roger,

I am one of those people who love working with woods with "defects." Even in my flatwork, which I am much more experienced at then turning so far. I know a lot of this is personal preference. Other people claim that people who do this are trying to hide poor craftsmanship with inferior wood. In a piece like that I usually clean the holes out with compressed air. Sometimes I fill them with a contrasting putty made of sawdust and thick CA or epoxy. I would use black walnut. Seeing it is ash, would coat the rest of it in sanding sealer first to help avoid staining on the other areas. Just my two cents. By the way, I like the form.

[John Keeton]

Roger, I didn't mean to imply that I never turn wormy wood. Actually, some of my favorite pieces have been "inhabited." But, I do think the overall character of the piece needs to be a "fit" for the wormholes. As for filling, it seems very difficult to do without leaving an artificial appearance, when what one is really doing is celebrating the organic nature of that particular piece of wood. Let nature be the artist's assistant in this case and simply remove the frass and leave the holes. I think it will be a pleasing look for this piece.

[Sid Matheny]

If it were me I would fill and put some color on it!

Sid

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, I didn't mean to imply that I never turn wormy wood. Actually, some of my favorite pieces have been "inhabited." But, I do think the overall character of the piece needs to be a "fit" for the wormholes. As for filling, it seems very difficult to do without leaving an artificial appearance, when what one is really doing is celebrating the organic nature of that particular piece of wood. Let nature be the artist's assistant in this case and simply remove the frass and leave the holes. I think it will be a pleasing look for this piece.

My concern, John, is that the vase [at least in my mind] was supposed to be a more "refined" form.........now that the worm holes are discovered, I wonder if that "fit" you spoke of is consistent with both the form and the holes...........to me it just looks like they don't fit together, thus my consideration of color.

Maybe I am not looking at it correctly......the form is still on the lathe, and I am still thinking about what to do with it........firewood maybe? I doubt I will go to that extreme, but this one is disappointing indeed in that I had that vision of something flawless...........oh well, it is what it is!

[Roger Chandler]

If it were me I would fill and put some color on it!

Sid

Thanks Sid..........the "right" color is important for this.........any suggestions?

[Roger Chandler]

Roger,

I am one of those people who love working with woods with "defects." Even in my flatwork, which I am much more experienced at then turning so far. I know a lot of this is personal preference. Other people claim that people who do this are trying to hide poor craftsmanship with inferior wood. In a piece like that I usually clean the holes out with compressed air. Sometimes I fill them with a contrasting putty made of sawdust and thick CA or epoxy. I would use black walnut. Seeing it is ash, would coat the rest of it in sanding sealer first to help avoid staining on the other areas. Just my two cents. By the way, I like the form.

Thanks Ben! There are turners who think it is not good if it does not have what I call defects! David Keller is like this, and some others who are in my local club. So you like the idea of filling the holes with black walnut sawdust and glue..........interesting!