what to do when this happens, part2

[curtis rosche]

ok so the peice broke, i really want to put it back together. i asked the student teacher what he does when his turnings break. his idea was to use a butterfly joint/thingy. it thought this sounded like a good idea. i was thinking that it could be done with cut nails to make it look "amish" but i have no idea how to make the cut out for it or where to start

[Thom Sturgill]

A butterfly joint or dutchman is a butterfly or bowtie shaped inlay. Think two dovetails point to point. The shape is usually cut out of some contrasting wood first, then scribed and mortised into the pieces to be repaired. In cabinet work it is then scraped or planed flush. I would glue the two pieces together first and route out for the patch and glue it in and then re-mount and turn the piece to flush the patch.

It will make an interesting piece when done.

[curtis rosche]

what color would go with the bowl? the pictures are in the other post

[Thom Sturgill]

Its a little hard to tell what color to use, but the idea is to 'celebrate' the patch, not try to hide it. Some of that fir or oak would work. It would not really be structural, the glue joint would provide that and the bowl is probably too thin to allow a thick enough patch to have a lot of strength. I have generally seen butterfly joints used in table tops to repair splits, sometimes even as 'decoration' on a new piece.