What kind of finish for a sawdust-stuffed gap?

[Nate Miller]

Made a mallet with a wedged mortise/tenon. There's a 1/32 inch gap on the top of the mallet between the handle and the head. After sanding, the gap is filled with sawdust--which looks much better than a gap. But I think if I bang the mallet on anything, the sawdust will get knocked out, showing the gap.

Is there a finish I can put on the mallet that will lock the sawdust in place? Or do you all have any other suggestions?

[Andrew Hughes]

Dig the sawdust out and hammer in some wedges of wood.
I don't believe in the sawdust and glue business.

[Nate Miller]

The only trouble with that is then I'll have 3 wedges and no symmetry. The wedges are a different color than the head so it'll look bad. Not that it already doesn't!

Thanks for the tip though--maybe I can make a wedge work somehow.

[Prashun Patel]

glue.....?

[Yonak Hawkins]

epoxy or Bondo ?

[John K Jordan]

The only trouble with that is then I'll have 3 wedges and no symmetry. The wedges are a different color than the head so it'll look bad. Not that it already doesn't!

Thanks for the tip though--maybe I can make a wedge work somehow.

Seems like you could make thin wedges out of the same wood as the head.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

Seems like you could make thin wedges out of the same wood as the head.

JKJ

Exactly what I do when mitigating things like "imprecise" hand-cut dovetails. I cut sliver-wedges with the grain such that I can drive them into a gap with a little glue, cut them down close and then sand flush. They "disappear" and they match the end-grain of the item with gaps surrounding it. That's the trick to this method...getting the grain orientation of the slivers to be what you need to make them invisible. And it's TOTALLY worth the effort. This isn't a problem that requires a "finish" solution...it's a build problem that requires mitigation before any finishing.

[Pat Barry]

Exactly what I do when mitigating things like "imprecise" hand-cut dovetails. I cut sliver-wedges with the grain such that I can drive them into a gap with a little glue, cut them down close and then sand flush. They "disappear" and they match the end-grain of the item with gaps surrounding it. That's the trick to this method...getting the grain orientation of the slivers to be what you need to make them invisible. And it's TOTALLY worth the effort. This isn't a problem that requires a "finish" solution...it's a build problem that requires mitigation before any finishing.

I agree this is the best method.

[Nate Miller]

Thanks everyone.