Help with Pine Slices

[Bert Kemp]

I have 3 Pine slices about 24" in diameter that have dried out and split. I want to sand these down and laser engrave them. But I need to close, fill, or fix the splits some how. Not a woodworker per say so some advice here would be appreciated. Thanx for any help

[Jacob Reverb]

Only thing I can think of would be to fill the cracks with a mixture of epoxy, pine sanding dust and maybe some milled cotton and/or fumed silica (to lighten the color of the composite -- pine sanding dust will darken a lot when mixed with epoxy) ... but it won't look great, since the filler will look like filler. Alternately, clear polyester resin will fill/consolidate the cracks and give you a fair surface, but it'll still be "clear" that there are cracks there that have been filled with clear plastic...

Are the slices thick enough that you can plane down the end grain past the depth of the checking?

[Bradley Gray]

I made a table from a similar pine disc that had held a wedding cake. This one had a check all the way through (like a slice of pie removed) so i cut it in half through the check, jointed both edges and glued it back together. Client was happy with it.

[Pete Staehling]

It might help to know more about how bad the splits are. Are they single big splits or multiple smaller checks? Minor checking might be handled differently than deep full splits. Can you post a picture?

Without knowing any of that... would engraving and then doing a poured on finish that also fills the voids fit your needs?
Full disclosure, I have seen the end product of what others have done with that technique, but have not done it myself.

[Robert Engel]

How thick and how long have they been drying? I ask because the splitting may not be over.

You can determine this by check the moisture content. If you don't have a meter, you can weigh them weekly. When the weight has stabilized, proceed.

I think filling with epoxy is about the only way to go. If there is a major crack, for example, extending 1/2 way into the cookie, you have to do what Pete ^ suggested.

[mark mcfarlane]

Bert, the size and distribution of the cracks will effect how to best deal with them. Also, the intended use of the disk is important: if it is something to hang on a wall you don't need structural integrity. If you are making a table top then structure becomes more important. For a chair seat structure becomes critical,...

Please post a picture and lets us know how the engraved piece will be used.

Also, let us know if the laser engraving needs to be done through the repair, i.e. if you are engraving a picture, does the engraving need to be visible in the repaired area? If so, epoxy might engrave well, or it might just melt and resolidify. You will probably need to test.

[Pete Staehling]

By the way... I dried some smaller rounds a while back, maybe 8-10" diameter and an inch thick. I let 3 just air dry in the shop. I dried 3 quickly in a warm oven because my wife needed them right away. The oven ones I heated in a 170F oven for a fairly short while (15-20 minutes) turned the oven off and let it cool down. I repeated that a couple times. I was surprised that they didn't split. The ones that dried more slowly in the shop had big full depth cracks. Not sure why. I'd have thought the faster drying would have cracked worse

[Bert Kemp]

Thanks Guys I'll get some pictures tomorrow.
Slices are thick 2 to 3 inches.
wide pie shaped splits
These have been drying since last Nov and 4 months here in AZ low Humidity their pretty lightweight now.
I think the engraving will be partially in the split or repaired area.
Not sure how they will be used yet maybe a table, since they are so thick.
as I said I'm not a woodworker don't have much for tools but have a friend that may be able to help there.

[Pete Staehling]

It sounds like there are a few possibilities. Just spitballing here. but...

Since the split is big enough that the engraving needs to be in the split area, engraving first and pouring clear epoxy or poly is out.
You'd need to test how various fillers looked in color and how they engraved. It seems like a difficult issue to get right, but may be possible. Do plenty of testing first if going this route.
Is there a chance the split can be closed and glued shut? Either a band around the round or a clamp might work. There is a chance it may not close or may break all the way across. If successful a bow tie inlay or two might help stabilize it. There is a chance that if it breaks you can still close it and glue it, but it could possibly be ruined.
You could try Bradley's approach and cut it in half, joint, and rejoin.
You could just embrace the split. Maybe stabilize it with a bow tie or two and design the engraving around the crack.
You could cut out the crack and fit a piece of wood, maybe in a contrasting color. Make it a design element.


Personally I kind of like the last two, but it really depends on what you want the finished product to look like.

[mark mcfarlane]

You could just embrace the split. Maybe stabilize it with a bow tie or two and design the engraving around the crack.



That's my favorite approach if it will work, or design the engraving around an epoxy fill.

[Bert Kemp]

407125This is what I'm dealing with. The engravings are Military Seals and round so would have to go thru the splits . Not looking promising

[Pete Staehling]

Looks like a tough one to deal with. I assume the bark will come off (it looks pretty loose). I think you might get two out of the three. If two was okay and it was me I think I'd try the following:

Cut the edges of the pie shape pieces perfectly smooth two of the pieces. I'd probably use a sled on the bandsaw to get nice straight cuts.
Make nice perfect fitting pieces to fill the pie shaped voids from the other piece and glue it in to the two voids.


The thin crack in the top one might be able to be closed.

You could make the pie shaped pieces straight, fill them with a piece of wood that continued into a foot that was an integral stand.

Or you could look for some new pieces to work with. A google search for "pine log rounds" yields quite a few hits.

[mark mcfarlane]

Thanks Bert for posting the pictures.

Pete's proposal is good. Another option is to try cutting the slice into two pieces (at the split) on your table saw using a sled with the slice carefully clamped to the sled so you end up with a nice glue ready joint. This is assuming you don't have access to a jointer. Then glue the two pieces together.

For the smaller cracks I'd try filling with epoxy and live with the reality that the engraving won't be perfect in the epoxy areas, but I'd still test to see what the engraving does to the epoxy. It might look fine if you use a clearish epoxy and it just blackens a little during engraving. Something to test, I've never engraved with a laser.

[Bert Kemp]

Thanx for the suggestions. I'll see what I can do. might take a while as the friend who has a shop threw his back out. Told him Im in no rush.

[Pete Staehling]

Good luck with the project. Please let us know how it works out.