# A knotty problem



## wortmanb (Jan 12, 2013)

I'm working on a Gentleman fountain pen in Afzelia burl, and the piece of wood I have is beyond gorgeous. The section that I'm using to make the body of the pen has a knot:







It's got some depth, but doesn't go through to the tube. Here, I rotated it a bit so it's upper left to try to show depth.






I know I need to fill this because, well, it's huge. And I kind of like the dark look of it, so I'm hesitant to just fill it with sanding dust and CA, and since I personally prefer Mylands to CA for my own pens, I wasn't planning a CA finish.

Suggestions?

Oh, and here's what the cap will look like (sanded to 500 with a coat of BLO):


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## jttheclockman (Jan 12, 2013)

sanding dust and wood glue. Make a paste.  If you like the black then just use dark sanding dust. All woodworkers use that trick. The key here is you are not staining the fill.


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## CharlesJohnson (Jan 12, 2013)

Gorgeous wood.  Who wouldn't like to have box full of that?  I'm seeing postings lately recomending instant coffee/epoxy mix.


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## StephenM (Jan 12, 2013)

No reason you can't use CA and whatever color sawdust you wish.  The CA won't affect the finish as it will only be as polished as you make it.


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## wortmanb (Jan 12, 2013)

Excellent. I'll do the sawdust thing and polish it up.

Has anyone had success using dyed epoxy?


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## robutacion (Jan 12, 2013)

Dryed epoxy...??? please explain...!!!

The grind coffee and epoxy/thick CA would be my choice for that repair however, if you are not finishing it with the CA finish, I would suggest you to use the PVA white glue instead, as the CA and epoxy will leave a extra gloss on that patch that is very noticeable with other finishes...!

Good luck,

Cheers
George


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## StephenM (Jan 12, 2013)

I use sawdust/CA quite a bit and finish with shellac and the sheen on the repaired part is no different than the rest of the pen.


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## Snowbeast (Jan 13, 2013)

This is a mesquite burl with a large knothole that I filled with colored epoxy. I mixed copper Pearl-ex into the epoxy and then reverse painted the blank red.

The picture doesn't do it justice.


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## KenV (Jan 13, 2013)

wortmanb said:


> Excellent. I'll do the sawdust thing and polish it up.
> 
> Has anyone had success using dyed epoxy?



There are dyes and there are colorants that are used with epoxy and resins.  Two part epoxy with colorants is a moderatly well developed set of rechniques with turners.  Dyes tend to bleed into the surrounding wood more than colorants.  Warmed epoxy such as System Three or West Systems, slightly thinned, with black colorant works pretty well in small cracks and voids.  

Mesquite is most of my experience.


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## Rodnall (Jan 13, 2013)

That piece is amazing. Sometimes I don't fill the holes fully, it gives the pen more character.


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## wortmanb (Jan 14, 2013)

I put a drop or two of medium CA in the void and pressed in a bunch of shavings, well-smeared over the rest of the area. I let it sit for a couple hours, then removed the excess with a combination of my gouge and 180 grit Abranet. The result was a perfectly black knot that now feels just like the surrounding wood.

I did finish with CA, but every pen I learn more about this technique. I'm less than pleased with the gloss I got and may disassemble the pen to add a few more coats (I did 3 or 4) to build up some gloss. I'll try to post a picture later.

Thanks for all the help!


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## mikespenturningz (Jan 14, 2013)

I think there are times that you just live with imperfections that are in a piece of wood simply because that is the piece of wood. Sometimes stabilizing can help is the wood is porous to begin with. I have tried the saw dust fix and never liked what I got out of it. Good luck but maybe you should look at the beauty of the wood and let it speak for itself.


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## scottsheapens (Jan 14, 2013)

I agree with Rodnall. I think the not adds to the true texture of a hand made pen.  If you want plastic.....buy Bic.


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## 76winger (Jan 14, 2013)

This is after the fact so it won't help you, but when I see something like that as I start getting anywhere near the final size, I'll stop and dribble CA into to it, just to solidify it and keep it from coming apart. In the end, you can still finish it however you want once you finish turning it down, you just have the CA holding the original wood in place so you don't have to fill it back in with something after the fact.


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## wortmanb (Jan 14, 2013)

My fear with this edge was that it was jagged, and right near the nib. I worried that it might snag. 

I didn't even think of drizzling CA as I worked. I'll try that on the next piece.


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## flyitfast (Jan 14, 2013)

+1 on the coffee grounds and epoxy.  Makes a good blend and would knot be a bad idea!!


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## Charlie_W (Jan 14, 2013)

Super Sweet blank there! Should be a stunning pen!


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## Hendu3270 (Jan 15, 2013)

CA and instant coffe, cinnamon or even paprika (the paprkia ends up being dark and not really red either).

Great looking wood btw.


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## wortmanb (Jan 15, 2013)

To plug the vendor (and risk my supply) I got it from Bad Dogs Burl.


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