Oops! (pics)

[George Conklin]

This started out as a eucalyptus NE.
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The tenon snapped off when I got a little to aggressive with the scraper. Doh!

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I picked up the piece to assess the damage I found these cracks.

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Thinking I might be able to salvage the piece, I used the vac chuck and turned off the tenon.

I've heard of turners using coffee grounds to fill cracks. Can someone please fill me in on this process?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

George....I've used instant coffee crystals and epoxy to fill cracks. I put some instant coffee in a shallow glass bowl and crush them with the back of a spoon. Then I mix them with the rosin of the epoxy on a piece of cardboard and then add the hardener. Then I fill the crack....let it set overnight and finish turning. The coffee crystals make the filler black and contrast nicely with cherry, apricot and other woods I've used it on. Good luck! That's a pretty piece of wood!

[Travis Stinson]

Just pack them in the cracks tightly and dribble thin CA along the cracks. You might have to do 2 applications. Then you can rechuck the bowl with the vacuum chuck and turn the grounds back level, then resand.

[Martin Braun]

Paul Porter also recommends used coffee grounds & CA. I have tried it, and it seems to work well. One thing about Eucalyptus, is it may still have some movement left in it. Thus you might want to give it some time to equilibrate again before filling. Otherwise the filling might pop out. I've had Eucalyptus keep moving for days after finish turning. And that was after letting the roughed out bowls dry for many months.

One thing that was recommeded to me was to boil help prevent that with Eucalyptus & African Sumac. I have not tried that yet.

[Bill Wyko]

You could do a little Turquoise inlay in there and it would look real nice.:) IMHO

[George Conklin]

Thanks for the help, guys:)

[Patrick Taylor]

I used chalk once and posted the results here a few weeks ago.

[Pat Salter]

I put a double shot of Jack Daniels in my coffee and after a couple of cups I can't see the cracks anymore.........oh wait, that's not the process you were looking for.....sorry:rolleyes:

[Doug Collins]

I use my coffee grinder to grind down to an Espresso grind. That way it's REAL fine and I mix with 2-part epoxy and just pack it into any cracks that need it.

[Mark Pruitt]

Just make sure you use Folger's coffee. That stuff tastes like crap so it needs to be good for something.:rolleyes:

[Bill Wyko]

Just make sure you use Folger's coffee. That stuff tastes like crap so it needs to be good for something.:rolleyes:
I hear ya. Yuban's not too bad and it fill cracks great too.:D If you contact Wood Crafters, they sell the stuff I use in small grain and large grain too. It's called inlace. You can check out their website at www.inlaceonline.com (http://www.inlaceonline.com). They have all sorts of colors and styles.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Aw man, that's too bad George. That fix ought to work though.

[John Gornall]

Any suggestions for other colors? I was looking in the window of a bead shop and wondered about crushing a few beads - they come in many colors.