Recently at the local recycling center, I found some pretty nice looking kiln-dried “urban lumber.” Local guy has taken to cutting local trees (SE Michigan) from under power lines, or in back yards, etc., and, instead of chipping them, he cuts them into boards and sells them at the recycling center. I bought several pieces, but one, for example, was white oak, about 6″x2″x6′, for $12. I think that’s $2/bd ft. It’s not all useable as it has a few knots, but all in all, it’s pretty nice. I cut it up today to make a little table, and I found that it had a lot of little insect holes drilled thru it. They hadn’t looked like much in the rough board, but a few pieces are really, well, holey. It’s still good looking wood, but I really ought to try to fill some of those holes. Buy how?
That’s my question. How can I fill bug holes (typically a millimeter in diameter) without making it look worse than it already does.
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Well, I tried a few things. . .
I tried a wax stick called "Oak." It left a smear over the surface, and was not really white oak, and not really red oak, maybe orange oak.
So I decided to try to plug them with wood; first try was bamboo skewers (the kind you use to make kebabs on the barbecue). I always keep a bag in the shop for various uses: a tiny drop of paint or glue, a small dowel, etc. Easy, but too white. Might work if I use a light stain (which I might), but not quite there. So I cut up a cut-off into 1/4-1/4 in pieces, and sharpened them in the pencil sharpener. Jabbed the point into the hole, and cut it off with a flush cutting saw. Looks good! But it's end grain. Not sure. Sharpening a square rod in a pencil sharpener is not fun. It's like riding a tractor down a train track. So I may try to turn them round, and then sharpen them. Question: can I cut the rods against the grain? then the points would not be end grain any more. All this to use urban wood. Oh well.
Best options may be either to love the look of wormy wood or recycle it. Don't think there is a good method to fill lots of worm holes in oak. In cherry, defects can be filled with epoxy because the wood is tight grained. But oak, any epoxy that gets on surrounding surface will leave filled pores that won't match the rest of the surface. If a filled pore finish is okay, wipe thin epoxy over everything, sand/scrape and repeat until holes filled. Mind, it's a LOT of work.
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