Worm tracks - leave 'em or fill 'em?

[robert baccus]

Dry ash does have a habit of attracting bugs like crazy. Leave it out for a year or so and it can develop a bunch of them. These can be very attractive and unique when numerous.--Holly does the same thing.

[Mike Cruz]

Roger, two thoughts: Art = leave them alone; utilitarian = fill them.

Also, in my opinion, it is a "fill them all, or don't fill any" kind of thing.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, two thoughts: Art = leave them alone; utilitarian = fill them.

Also, in my opinion, it is a "fill them all, or don't fill any" kind of thing.

I agree Mike!

[Michelle Rich]

I don't think worm holes look good in this piece. If you had a natural edge or some other 'rustic" thing going on, then the holes would "fit"..IMHO

[Prashun Patel]

I'm with Sid on this. If it were me, I'd put a drop of CA on each one of those frassy holes to stabilize them, and then I'd finish. If they're not uniformly filled, I vote for removing the residual.

Unsolicited comment alert: IMHO, the artist's reason for a choice is more important than choice, itself. You already have a good eye. Trust your instinct and let your art be your art.

[Pat Scott]

With as many worm holes that there are, I'd scrap it and find another piece of wood. Or maybe the whole lot that you got from your neighbor is like this and you just got a bunch of free firewood.

I've turned ash before with bug holes. Some of the pieces I've kept and others I burn. I'm one that doesn't like the holes. There's a difference between a natural hole like from a knot, and one made from a bug. Dale Nish made a series of vessels out of wormy Ash that are really nice and artistic, all of his holes are cleaned out.

If you leave them as is and put a finish on the piece, the packed holes will turn darker than the surrounding wood - so they will really stand out. If you want to keep this piece, clean out the holes and don't fill them. I think with as many holes as there are, if you filled them with a contrasting color it would look funky.

[Steve Peterson]

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!

Add one more turner that usually likes the character of a few worm holes. However, it does appear out of place in that piece. I am still a novice turner and have quite a few pieces of white or live oak with around 30-40 work tracks in a 6" bowl. It takes a while to pick them all out, just so I can fill them back in again. I have done copper filings mixed with epoxy, black tinted epoxy, clear epoxy, and turquoise. Every time I say to myself that the next time I will simply add a drop of CA to the hole and leave the worm poop, yet I still find myself picking it out.

Steve

[terry gearhart]

I would clean the area, then leave the track,
it really gives the piece a great looking apperance

[Brian Kent]

Leave the pock-marks and label it "Teenager's Lament."

[Roger Chandler]

Here is the finished piece. I decided that I did not want to have to wait until an order of inlace could be shipped and I did not plan on doing any more with this. It will be given to my neighbors, from which the wood came from their tree........their last name is Lambert, so I noted that on the bottom. I think they will be tickled to get it!

The worm holes are a part of the story of this wood and it is "character" as some have mentioned, so I just put a couple coats of shellac followed by 3 coats of the Woodturners Finish [WTF]

This is 9.25" tall and 5.75" wide at the rim. How do you like the end result?

IMGP4060.jpgIMGP4057.JPGIMGP4059.JPG

[Lionel Mercier]

Hi Roger
Hi all,
just when this happens, I like to take this great opportunity to create something using the holes
Holes copie.jpg

[Roger Chandler]

Hi Roger
Hi all,
just when this happens, I like to take this great opportunity to create something using the holes
Holes copie.jpg

I guess featuring the holes is one way to deal with them! Nice one, Lionel! Thanks for sharing!

[Tim Rinehart]

Roger, if i encounter bug holes and have filler in them from the critter. I will blow that stuff out. Partially because it doesn't finish well, and also to make sure a critter isn't still lurking in there. i will occasionally use some filler material, i.e turquoise or malachite, for small inclusions...but not bug holes. I like filler to appear like a 'vein' of material, which isn't likely to be in the shape of a bug hole. My vote...leave the bug holes with the 'stuff' cleaned out.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, if i encounter bug holes and have filler in them from the critter. I will blow that stuff out. Partially because it doesn't finish well, and also to make sure a critter isn't still lurking in there. i will occasionally use some filler material, i.e turquoise or malachite, for small inclusions...but not bug holes. I like filler to appear like a 'vein' of material, which isn't likely to be in the shape of a bug hole. My vote...leave the bug holes with the 'stuff' cleaned out.

Thanks Tim.........I don't know if you went all the way to the second page of this thread, but what you mentioned is exactly what I ended up doing with this...........just cleaned the holes out and left them. I think a vein of color does look much better than a hole as well..........thank for replying!

[Marc Himes]

Hello Roger. I tend to leave the holes if they are numerous. I also like to use a Dremel with a rotary bur to clean them out. At times this leads to enlarging the holes but that is usually OK. In this piece, the holes don't seem to fit with the refined nature of the form and I agree with your disappointment. If there were more holes it may look better so perhaps doing some carving might help.