Epoxy + Coffee Grounds

[Dave Bunge]

I have a question for the folks who use coffee grounds as a filler in epoxy when fixing cracks in bowls. Do you use fresh coffee, right out of the can, or leftovers after brewing? Is any particular grind better than another? Am I overthinking this?

I have some oak bowls with cracks to fill and would like to try this technique.

Thanks,
Dave

[Ken Glass]

Dave,
I always use Instant coffee crystals (like Folgers) because they are dry and seem to blend into the epoxy well. here is an article that shows using regular grind coffee also. http://www.docgreenwoodturner.com/coffee.html

[Rich Sabulsky]

I recycle used grounds - just stir them occasionally to speed drying and to keep them from molding until they're completely dry. You might be overthinking it. :)

[John Keeton]

I have used instant, but sometimes one gets some bleed from them. I prefer used grounds - whatever comes out of the pot. Spread on a newspaper to dry overnight or whatever it takes. I suppose one could nuke them, as well. I use Titebond, for what that may be worth to you. It seems to work better for me than epoxy and much easier to mess with.

[Dave Bunge]

Thanks for the input everyone. I discovered that the K-cup single serving coffee containers hold a surprising amount of coffee grounds. Looks like Donut Shop medium roast will be the first grounds I try.
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[Russell Neyman]

If the inclusion you're filling is particularly large, you might consider layering it, adding a bit of sawdust in the first pass to lighten the color. This makes the
patch look more natural.

I apply it with two-part five minute epoxy.

[Paul Williams]

I use used grounds. A few times when needing a darker color I "burnt" the grounds in a frying pan. I have used CA and epoxy. For small holes CA is easier. Often I put a dap of CA in the defect, push the grounds into the hole, and dribble thin CA on top. This might take more than one layer of grounds.

[John K Jordan]

Thanks for the input everyone. I discovered that the K-cup single serving coffee containers hold a surprising amount of coffee grounds. Looks like Donut Shop medium roast will be the first grounds I try.
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That makes me want to cast an entire blank and turn a coffee plate for my donuts!

JKJ

[Thom Sturgill]

Used K cups work for me too. check different blends from light (blonde) to French Roast, you might be able to get better matches to the color.

FYI there was a prior thread on this that got rather humorous.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I never use epoxy with coffee ground, as you aren’t able to add a lot of material to epoxy and still have it work, you might as well color the Epoxy, as you will not get the same look as what you do get with 100% coffee ground, flooding it with CA and it does look like bark or wood.

Just what works and looks best IMO.

[daryl moses]

Thanks for the input everyone. I discovered that the K-cup single serving coffee containers hold a surprising amount of coffee grounds. Looks like Donut Shop medium roast will be the first grounds I try.
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That's exactly what I use. I always keep a couple of used K cups around the shop. They work great!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use Folgers crystals. I still have a jar my wife bought 30+ years ago and I refused to drink it. I mix it with the epoxy rosin and then add the hardner. I haven't had the bleeding problems John experienced.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

This conversation has made me thirsty. I'm going to enjoy a cup of coffee. :)
faust

[John K Jordan]

If the inclusion you're filling is particularly large, you might consider layering it, adding a bit of sawdust in the first pass to lighten the color. This makes the patch look more natural.

I'm not a big fan of the mono color filler of black or any color. A couple of times I filled a wide void with thin slices of bark and fine sawdust then soaked with CA glue. This can look like a natural bark inclusion.

JKJ

[Russell Neyman]

I'm not a big fan of the mono color filler of black or any color. A couple of times I filled a wide void with thin slices of bark and fine sawdust then soaked with CA glue. This can look like a natural bark inclusion.

JKJ

Heck, if you want to take this discussion (which is really about filling voids) add a tree branch or two to create the illusion of a knot with pith. I do that often with blanks that otherwise would be nearly worthless.

[James Combs]

Used K cups work for me too. check different blends from light (blonde) to French Roast, you might be able to get better matches to the color.

FYI there was a prior thread on this that got rather humorous.

Thom, I remember that thread, it compared several varieties of coffee. Wish I could remember who wrote it. I remember being in stitches by the time I finished reading it. :D Might have been the Californian that had his shop in a tent and I think he also made a concrete bowl lathe, maybe a "David Ca...." or something like that, just can't remember anything any more.:o

Edit: Just did a little search on names, I believe I am thinking of David DeCristoforo (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?18967-David-DeCristoforo), continuing to check on the thread.

Found this is one by David (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?143490-Evaluation-of-various-coffees-used-as-fillers), wasn't as long as I remember but still pretty good.

[Bill Boehme]

Like John Keeton, used coffee grounds are what I use. I don't use coffee grounds to color the epoxy because I feel that it just makes a thick dark mess. I prefer to sprinkle the grounds on top of the epoxy (or CA) so that I wind up with an irregular bark inclusion appearance. I don't use it where it doesn't "fit". For me, there needs to be a good reason to use any particular "fix" such as this. To me, using it or anything else to simply fill a crack only serves to highlight what you have done. Generally, I combine a number of different "tricks" to sculpt a synthetic "natural" feature or sometimes to create the missing part of a natural feature.