Filling in inclusions in walnut

[Peter Quinn]

I like epoxy with a bit of wood flour mixed in for body in that type of fill. You can tint it with UC's or dyes if desired but usually the wood flour will darken it enough for my eye. Maybe try a few samples, even drill a hole and try to fill it to see if you like the look. If its deep a through hole i usually tape one side and fill it with a slow setting epoxy, for shallower holes I go with a five or ten minute epoxy.

[Jesse Cloud]

I agree with Peter on the slow setting epoxy. I would be tempted to leave it natural, but realistically that would be a magnet for dust and spills and make it really hard to keep the table looking nice.

[John Parker]

If You like the natural look but dilike the hole , I would simply finish the piece as it is then have a piece of glas cut to the exact shape as the top and put it down. This way youget the look of the natural surface without the hole.

John

[Russ Filtz]

I vote no patching! I think even a good patch will look cheezy. I would get the clearest epoxy I could find and just level it off. Make kind of a viewport into the knot. Leaves the wood more natural and something interesting for the eye to look at.

[Jeff Craven]

2) I apologize that I wasn't more clear on this next point. I'm not wanting to hide them or patch them (but thanks very much to those who offered advice about that). I want and like the natural look of them. I am wanting to fill them with something to make them solid so that if/when something is spilled it doesn't go down the hole. Again, I'm wanting to make a living room coffee table.

There is an episode of Woodworks, where David Marks patches an unstable knot with a stable knot, by inlaying it. There are some pics of the process here:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ww_oth...556267,00.html