Sealing bark inclusions?

[Tyler Anderson]

I have some pieces of bookmatched natural edge walnut that have some bark inclusions where a branch was splitting off. The inclusions stretch to the edge on one side and is surrounded by wood on the other side. The inclusions go all the way through the wood on both sides.

I'm afraid of these bark pieces being more brittle than the wood around them and chipping off in time, possibly as people absent mindedly start picking at them. Is this something I need to be worried about, and if so, how can I harden/seal the bark? I don't want to use an epoxy to fill in the gaps, so I'd need something thinner that could soak into the bark to just harden it. Would CA do this well?

I'll probably be finishing the rest of the table with Watco Danish oil or Liberon Finishing oil.

Thank you!
--Tyler

P.S. I'll try to post pictures later, if I can fix my computer at home to post them.

[Marc Casebolt]

Tyler,
CA will harden the fibers. Use the thin stuff so it soaks in. Is it tightly packed in there, or are there gaps in the bark? How wide is it? If it's wide and has gaps between the bark fibers the CA may not be enough to hold up. I recently had a situation like this, and I used epoxy mixed with some ebony dust. Just ran a file over a scrap and mixed it in. It looked really good, and finished well. I used WB laquer, you will need to do a test. Hope this helps, Marc

[Kristian Wild]

A quick setting epoxy will work pretty well too on something as porus as bark if you heat it up (the inclusion area on the board) with a hair dryer or a hot air gun first.
The epoxy will become very thin when applied to a warm surface and should penetrate quite well. Maybe just mask off the area around the inclusion to prevent it soaking into the wood and affecting the finish around there. I use the 5-Cure epoxy from LV quite a bit at work for similar situations.

[Jeff Patrick]

Use the CA adhesive. Get some of the thin, thick, and thicker along with the kicker. I've done exactly what you're asking about and CA works like a charm.

[Tyler Anderson]

I'm including some pictures of the two inclusions. They're about an inch wide with spots where you can see all the way through. Some areas have it packed in, others not so much.

Regarding the heating epoxy - would that allow it to fully soak into the bark so it didn't really leave residue on the surface. I don't really want to fill in the gaps, but rather just strengthen the wood.

Jeff - what do you mean "thin, thick, and thicker along with the kicker"? Are these different thicknesses of CA, and if so, would I use all three (and when?)?

Also, is there any brand of CA that you recommend?

Thanks!
--Tyler