Walnut table top

[Jay Jolliffe]

I'm making a small drop leaf table out of walnut. The wood is 35 yrs old. I need to fill some small knots with something. Don't really know what. I read here coffee grounds & CA glue....Any other ideas would be welcome.

[Ryan Mooney]

Epoxy and filler of choice. It depends on if you're trying to hide the holes or highlight them.

Personally I tend to lean towards highlighting because it requires less skill than hiding so its more in line with my abilities. For highlighting turquoise ( http://www.inlaceonline.com/text/products/kits.html - not actually turquoise but easier to work..) or brass looks pretty nice on walnut.

If you're trying to hide it and have skills commensurate with mine (that is to say not many) then a dark filler like (dry) coffee or just dye the epoxy works fairly well because the eye tends to skip over black spots easier.

Try a couple of things and see what you think looks good as everyone will have a differing opinion in that regard.

[Yonak Hawkins]

jay, while some prefer epoxy wood filler, I'm a fan of Bondo wood filler. Both can be colored with dry pigment. As always, test before you apply.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Never knew you could tint bondo..

[Jerry Wright]

Mix rotten stone into clear 5 minute epoxy . A little is tan, more is brown, and even more is dark, approaching dark brown to black. Rotten stone is very fine. I find coffee grounds to be too coarse. If you have a knot hole or deep. Rack, place tape on the bottom and fill the void up. When the epoxy is just finger nail hard, remove most excess with coarse ros. The leave to full hard for final sanding.

[Ken Combs]

If you have a lot of sanding to do, esp belt sanding with coarse belt, save the dust. Mix with epoxy. I use the pour on bartop finish stuff as it is very slow setting and thin consistency so it will completely fill even small cracks, like around a tight knot. Be sure to put tape on the bottom side, or it will drip out, and overfill a little.

the slow set is good/bad. Do it last thing in the day and it'll be ready to work in the a.m.

[Mark Gibney]

I use a slow setting epoxy. I thin it a little with alcohol and it flows easier.

[Jim Andrew]

When I have a knot hole to fill, I use a round file to clean out the hole a bit, then either carve a stick to fit, or turn a piece so it is tapered to fit the hole. Then I put glue on it, drive it into the hole so it is snug, but does not split the panel. After it is dry, I saw it off about 1/16" long, and sand it down.

[Wes Ramsey]

I'm primarily a turner and frequently use coffee grounds and thin CA glue. I only use dried, previously-enjoyed grounds run back through a fine grinder to where it is pretty much powder. Tamp it into the crack and flood it with CA, then sand it down flush after a couple of minutes. This is a good treatment for walnut, especially if you're giving it an oil surface treatment like Danish oil. Color is very similar. I would caution that if the CA glue runs where you don't want it it will seal the wood and it won't take stain or oil and is a booger to sand out. It is best to apply a sealer around the area you're filling - wax, shellac, DO, whatever it takes to keep the CA from soaking in where you don't want it. I normally use Starbond thin, which comes with some really fine tips so I can control the destination and amount of the glue much better.

I would practice on a scrap chunk first, but the process is pretty simple. If you get bored with coffee grounds you can use pretty much any material you can powder - metal shavings/dust, dried organics like leaves, corn cobs, pine cones, sawdust, rocks, minerals, etc. It's a lot of fun and you can get some really pretty results with minerals, but I think I still prefer to not have the cracks in the first place