Here is how I save sanding dust to mix with epoxy when I need to fill cracks in my late work.  I keep just enough to help me if I am turning something and need to fix/fill a crack on something and I just mix it with some epoxy glue, and it works well for me.

 

Does anyone else have ways of doing it (maybe better than mine)?

 

I bought 25 of these little containers on the internet for like $5 or so.

I've got three types now, longleaf pine, eastern white pine, and (white?) cedar. The EWP has lost its mojo. That, or my nose is smelling its age. I use clear plastic ice cream jars but I do not think they are airtight.

 

These little 1oz jars hold samples of old varnish pigments.

 

I use empty pill bottles to store fine dust. I don't mix it with epoxy but press it into cracks and small holes and then give it a drop or three of thin CA glue. This works well since I mainly use dark woods like walnut and mesquite. The CA glue turns the dust very dark brown/black regardless of what color the dust started as. When sanded smooth the cracks tend to blend in and disappear from view.

 

With small cracks/gaps I will press PVA glue into the void and then sand over it with my ROS. This blends fine dust from the immediate area of the fault into the glue and that really makes cracks/gaps disappear. Also helps strengthen the crack.

All really neat ideas!

1 hour ago, Woodman said:

I've got three types now, longleaf pine, eastern white pine, and (white?) cedar. The EWP has lost its mojo. That, or my nose is smelling its age. I use clear plastic ice cream jars but I do not think they are airtight.

 

These little 1oz jars hold samples of old varnish pigments.

 

When I bought my little containers, I didn't think of getting clear ones.  That would make identification even easier.

Never have seen the benefit of saving sawdust. I either emphasize with a contrasting color CA or Epoxy colored with dye or now using Micro Powders in epoxy.

8 hours ago, Gerald said:

Never have seen the benefit of saving sawdust. I either emphasize with a contrasting color CA or Epoxy colored with dye or now using Micro Powders in epoxy.

It only helps with a closer color match if you want to fill a hole or crack with like colored material.  It is similar to coloring epoxy when you make resin for turning.

 

It does not always make an exact match, but it's usually very close.

On 10/3/2023 at 11:06 PM, Gerald said:

Never have seen the benefit of saving sawdust

Speak for yourself  

 

I am living embodiment of motto, "Caulk and paint make a carpenter what he ain't"   

Phyl and I had a motto when we were doing interiors in the homes we bought. "We caulk to fit". 

On 10/4/2023 at 6:49 AM, nevinc said:

It only helps with a closer color match if you want to fill a hole or crack with like colored material.  It is similar to coloring epoxy when you make resin for turning.

 

It does not always make an exact match, but it's usually very close.

When I used it I mixed it with glue. Yes it worked but I did not see it as a perfect match so create a contrast is my moto.

10 hours ago, Woodman said:

I am living embodiment of motto, "Caulk and paint make a carpenter what he ain't"

Well I guess I ain't then, based on the mostly home improvement type projects I do.  Just please don't tell my wife.

4 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Phyl and I had a motto when we were doing interiors in the homes we bought. "We caulk to fit". 

My Dad always said:  Nothing a fast horse and a coat of paint won't fix! 

17 hours ago, Gerald said:

create a contrast

I had to focus for 2.5 hours yesterday as a new artist friend visited. She's all about contrasting grain and the seam between them. Moving up my basement TS purchase to help her with her art. I'm thinking, even, of tinting Titebond to affect a black line between seams . . . 

 

Rules of design:

 

Effective design centres on four basic principles: contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. These appear in every design.

 

TAG: rules of design