Coffee grounds & glue to fill cracks?

[paul vechart]

Does anybody use coffee grounds and glue to fill cracks in their turnings? I saw this tip a few times and wondered how and if it works.

Thanks for your help.

Paul

[Greg Ketell]

Works fine. You want "espresso grind", not drip grind. IE a fine powder so it mixes well. I used "drip grind" grounds last week; that didn't work so well. Mix the grounds with Epoxy, fill the holes, turn.

Some people make a fine powder of instant coffee. I guess that dissolves some and makes for better color?

[Prashun Patel]

I used to use sawdust and epoxy. However, most epoxy dries amber/clear, which ends up looking black because you see the bottom of the dark crack of the wood. The point is, the coffee grounds might be unnecessary if using epoxy and yr going for a dark color.

I've done wood glue and dust before, but it ends up looking muddy.

[Greg Just]

I have used instant coffee mixed with epoxy. It has worked well for me. I don't like to drink instant coffee so I guess I'll use it for this.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have a jar of instant coffee I use. I crush the crystals, mix them with the epoxy resin and then add the hardner and mix.

[Jim Burr]

+1. The espresso powder is very soft crystals...just mush with your fingers and Shazaam!! Sometimes, I'll use a pin to push the powder in farther in finer cracks. Little thin CA and your good.

[George Guadiane]

I like USED coffee grounds (any grind) and tea leaves. It makes a bark look that to me looks kind of like a mystery inclusion. I have even ground the edges of the opening a bit to make it look more like a natural bark thing.

[Steve Rost]

Another thumbs up for coffee grinds. My first time was last month on a Osage Orange bowl. Like above I pressed as much as I could into the crack and then used thin CA. It wicked into the crack very well. Another plus was when I finished turned it, it smelled like I brewed a fresh pot. Was nice and black, just what I wanted.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I use the coffee ground with CA, as the look of it is much like bark, with filling the defect like that, it will be totally filled with the coffee ground and only the gaps between theses particles will be filled with CA, plus whatever amount that soaks into it.

Straight wood cracks I have very seldom, but occasionally there are defects in the wood like overgrown twigs and or bark inclusions etc., these I fill with coffee ground as it looks very much like a dark woody bark.

I have a few pictures here that show where I would use the coffee ground, an aside, I also use copper, brass and other material with CA rather than epoxy, as with epoxy you can use only a limited amount of other material in the mix, or else the epoxy will not work anymore, while with CA you can fill the opening for 100% with that material and then flood it with CA.

When I turned this Black Cherry crotch I knew it would want to open up, so I made and inserted a staple to keep it from opening up, still the bark did dry thinner, but it kept the bark inclusion split stable, I later turned the holes away when finish turning it, made a smaller staple and buried it below the surface of the Coffee ground.
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Here are two bowls out of a batch of 16 that had bark inclusions/defects that I have to fill with coffee ground, just like the Manitoba Maple bowl that had this bark inclusion within the wood.

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[ed hoxter]

i use starbucks ed

[paul vechart]

Thanks everyone for the great feed back...I think I'll try the CA glue and coffee method for these small cracks and now I think I'll make some coffee.:)
Paul

[Lee Koepke]

I, too have used coffee with good success. Depending on the defect and the intended result, I may take my ball peen hammer and crush the coffee even finer, or leave it coarse (ie, natural edge/bark inclusions).

It works.

[Dave Bell]

Try Mica Powders with the Epoxy.....especially the ones that have pearlescence to them. PearlEx is one of the brands you can find easily at Michaels.

Dave

[Scott Lux]

Coffee grounds are great for it. So are the brass filings from the key cutter at your local hardware store. Same process, filings in the crack, CA in/on those. Gives a little sparkle.

[cal thelen]

did not realize everyone was using fresh grounds. I assumed when reading the tips people were using used grounds that were left to dry. I spread the used grounds on a paper plate as thin as i can then just let it sit on a shelf until it is dried out. Then I put it in a gallon food bag and run a rolling pin over a few times, then i transfer to a empty pill bottle. for large cracks i mix with epoxy for small cracks i just sprinkle and rub in the crack and drip a few drops of thin CA has always worked for me.

[Scott Lux]

Cal, I do the same as you, minus the rolling pin. I'll add that'll my toolkit.

[Donny Lawson]

I have a bag of coffee grounds in the shop and they get used all the time. They are finely crushed and pushed into the void and then add thin CA. Sand it down and it looks great.