Pretty Hickory knot - decision point

[Brian Kent]

I went ahead and turned the "worst" part of a hickory board. I love the way it looks, but the knot hole goes all the way through the base of the cup. So I think I have 3 equally good choices and would like other people's artistic opinion.

1) Leave it and have an ornamental piece.

2) Fill the gap with epoxy and turquoise.

3) Fill the gap and fill with epoxy and coffee grounds.

What is your opinion (or other suggestion?)

[david privett]

have you tried weldwood plastic resin water based wood glue and saw dust? It has a good pot life after mixing. And the glue is brown to start so sometimes I find it is a good option. But when cured it is HARD.

[Edward Weingarden]

My taste often leads me to leave things in their natural state. I like voids; I think they give what may be an ordinary piece some character. I like your piece as is.

[Robert Willing]

I would leave it as is and have a piece of art, which it is! A Beautiful chalice.

[Brice Rogers]

Nice character in the wood.
I suspect that this was originally intended to be a functional piece - - perhaps a communion challice - - so I'm guessing that you are leaning towards filling it.
I have also filled with clear epoxy that I "doped" with fine glitter. I got an assortment of 1/2 dozen small packets of metallic glitter (silver, gold, copper, brass, etc.) at the dollar store. I couldn't beat the price. For one pretty black acacia plate with termite holes, I used a copper colored glitter because it harmonized with and complimented the color of the wood. Some of the glitter sunk during the epoxy cure time and I didn't use a tremendous amount of glitter, so the effect was subtle and not overpowering. Next time, I'm going to tip it upside down after filling so the glitter sinks closer to the surface. I have also mixed turquoise enamel with Michael's art store turquoise glitter and got a nice subtle effect. If too much enamel is used, the epoxy gets more opaque and hides the glitter. But it is a forgiving process in general.

Another alternative would be to fill with clear resin. But I think that it would look better with coffee grounds or some other color.

[Barry McFadden]

I vote with the leave it as is guys...........

[John K Jordan]

I know a lot of people love the look of voids or cracks filled with turquoise, something black, epoxy mixed with coffee grounds or something, metal, sawdust, etc. I'm with those who don't. I far prefer the natural look, which in the case of this piece looks wonderful to me, especially with the high contrast.

For one thing, if you fill with something that is inflexible that does not expand and contract with the wood as it moves, it may look perfect at first but with time it will often break loose at the edges or feel slightly proud of the surface. I've seen this more than once.

One thing I have done to fill in a void: I had a dished platter with some long bark inclusions, one of which was mostly a void that extended to the edge. In this case, I didn't like the void so I filled it with pieces of bark glued with CA glue. I cut and broke various pieces of bark into long, thing uneven pieces, packed them in the void, then turned, scraped, and sanded. Unlike filling with something solid, the unevenness of the pieces in both size and color made a very convincing natural-looking fake inclusion. (and the glued in pieces were organic pieces from the same wood!) Everyone loved it and even when I pointed out the "repair" they couldn't tell it wasn't natural. (Sorry, I gave it away before I got a photo.)

JKJ

[Aaron Craven]

My vote would be to leave it unless the hole is going to be a problem. Obviously, if it's going to be used, you have to do something. But if it can be an ornamental piece, I think it's too beautiful to change.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I agree with JJ. Bark glued into void just adds more interest to thevoid, but fills the area with contrasting color and additional grain properties.

[Steve Mathews]

If the openings were smaller I would say fill it with turquoise. As is I think the fill would overpower the natural beauty of the wood. That said, what about lining the inside with something like copper or better yet a translucent material that would add some light to the opening and sort of celebrate the defect in the wood.

[John Keeton]

Brian, I like it as is, but if you want a functional chalice, then one suggestion would be black tinted epoxy with embedded copper foil. If this interests you, email me and I will give you more info.