New to the forum.  I install bowties on my live edge tables. I make the bowties from a jig on my table saw and hand cut the mortises for the bowties. I'm looking for ideas on filling the small gaps along with edges of the openings created by imperfect inletting. The gaps range from .040" down to maybe .015".  I'm looking for a good match between the color of the bowtie wood ( curly maple) and the fill material. Thus far I've tried mixing sanding dust with titebond glue: when dried it there was not a color match. Tried mixing sanding dust with thinned polyurethane: again, too dark.   thank you.

First, Welcome to the Patriot site. Glad you found us!

 

My color matching skills are pretty sad. I try to save sanding dust from most of the species I work with. Maybe mixing various colors and making tests will get you closer to what you need. 
 

Maybe our resident furniture restorer  @kmealy will be along to offer better advice. 

Welcome aboard LoggerDan, glad to have you here.

Tite bond III dries about as dark a medium color maple to start with so the saw dust would have to be kinda light colored. If you don't mix a bunch of saw dust in with the glue it is almost impossible to sand down to a nice flat level.

 Mixing 2 part epoxy with saw dust will leave an area that kinda stands out like here is a place we tried to fix but made show up lots worse. But I can brush a very small amount of color under each coat of lacquer and get good results....But this is something  one has to practice like 40 to 50 years and I'm just now getting to know what I should have done after each mistake....

My method if I am going to shoot clear lacquer over everything is to take a very small brush and using either different shades of ink stain or a water base stain over the area I fill and can get better results if I go a little at a time under a few coats of clear lacquer with color added before each clear lacquer is sprayed...

First, welcome to The Patriot Woodworker @logger dan. Glad you found us and jumped right in. Stop by the Introduce Yourself Forum to tell us a little more about yourself as well as your projects. Pictures are always appreciated too.

 

Like Lew mentioned hopefully @kmealy will come along shortly with his suggestions.

don't sweat the small stuff.

 

works for me.

 

"oh look dear, this piece is not perfect"

 

"that's right ma'am, it was hand made, by me, and any imperfections are proof that it was not made in a factory by a large machine"

Welcome aboard. i am afraid I cannot help on your question. I either dye or carve it out.

19 hours ago, DAB said:

don't sweat the small stuff.

 

works for me.

 

"oh look dear, this piece is not perfect"

 

"that's right ma'am, it was hand made, by me, and any imperfections are proof that it was not made in a factory by a large machine"

I try to not let the good be the enemy of the great. Hardly ever works, though. All my stuff has the hand made look. Like you said, definitely not production line work.

There are inlay kits for routers that give a near perfect fit if that is what you are going for.

 

 

Take a look at videos from Blacktail studios. He is a professional and does what you are asking.

Danl 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn from the Master.....

I like using two part epoxy, it finishes out nicely too.

12 hours ago, Danl said:

Learn from the Master.....

Thanks, Danl. Somebody should get their act together. It's been postponed til tonight. 

Hello fellow woodworkers.  I want to thank you to all who responded to my first question on PW. Excellent suggestions.  

 

I now have another un-related question. I am in the market for some high-end mortising chisels. In my initial research, Lie-Nielson seems to be VERY highly thought of.  However, I called them and found that they are not currently producing any chisels.  So, for those of you with lots of experience in hand mortising chisels, what brands do you have and what about your opinions re: the quality of mortising chisels in general?  

I needed some chisels when I did some furniture with lots of M&T. Found good reviews and good price on Nairex mortising chisels and yes they lived up to the reviews. Oh I got them at Highland.

I'm with Gerald. They are much better than many other offers. Fairly sharp out of the box and, hold an edge remarkably well. Although, I don't do a lot of chopping. Mostly trimming drilled mortises and making hinge mortises. 

11 hours ago, Gerald said:

I needed some chisels when I did some furniture with lots of M&T. Found good reviews and good price on Nairex mortising chisels and yes they lived up to the reviews. Oh I got them at Highland.

I do believe the Narex are metric correct? Not a big deal if your using Narex exclusively for your M&T work, but it is worth mentioning, for those who desire the traditional chisels and keeping all your hand tools Imperial.

15 hours ago, logger dan said:

I am in the market for some high-end mortising chisels.

I own the Ray Iles English Mortise chisels, I have the 1/4" and the 1/2". I have a set of Narex I bought on sale, and found them to be bouncy, just my opinion, not taking away from Gerald's own experience, we all use tools differently.

So I shelved my Narex, and have used exclusively my English chisels by Iles.

The handles are big, solid, and the bolster is wide and thick, the chisel is heavy for solid registration, and the large handles make it easy to find that sweet spot for pounding them with a wooden mallet.

Here's some work I have done with my English pig sticker.

 

Click on the first title link with the diagonal arrow below pointing right to be taken to my mortise images using my Ray Iles.

 

And, here is where you can find these wonderful traditional chisels.

 

English Mortise Chisels by Ray Iles

TOOLSFORWORKINGWOOD.COM

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We've wanted to sell real English mortise chisels since Tools for Working Wood began. The challenge, of course, was to make a...

 

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

I own the Ray Iles English Mortise chisels, I have the 1/4" and the 1/2". I have a set of Narex I bought on sale, and found them to be bouncy, just my opinion, not taking away from Gerald's own experience, we all use tools differently.

 

John it just depends on what you want to spend , but over $100 for one job is a bit spendy for me. By the way I mark my mortises and cut to the line. But I don't do the chairs and such you do either. No offense intended but economy of force is sometimes useful if the use is not a lifetime of that application.

7 hours ago, Gerald said:

John it just depends on what you want to spend , but over $100 for one job is a bit spendy for me. By the way I mark my mortises and cut to the line. But I don't do the chairs and such you do either. No offense intended but economy of force is sometimes useful if the use is not a lifetime of that application.

No offense taken! I was just going off his need for "high end" chisels, so I opted to suggest what I feel are high end chisels. Also, you can get some nice older English Mortise chisels from Ebay or other used tool dealers, that may not be as spendy, put a little time in sharpening and you will have some nice chisels, but if he wants out of the box beauties, I recommend what I recommended.