Plugging small screw holes in wood, ideas please.
thingy
I have 4 small screw holes I need to block cleanly and solidly.....I
have 4 small screws holding a bracket, that bracket is about 0.75mm
too low so needs moving up. Trouble is the new holes would be on the
edge of the old so I cant just re-drill....I have to block the old
first....The holes are about 1.5mm~2mm dia so I need something small
and invisible, black would be perfect and about the same density as
the wood. I'd normally use dowel for bigger holes, but Ive not done
this small before. So some sort of "thin" black epoxy that I could
squeeze in with a syringe might do well, but the epoxy needs to be
thin to flow....araldite is too viscous to put in a syringe with such
a small dia output nipple....any ideas of suggestions?
regards
Me
If you can't squirt it in, consider covering the surface with some
removable self-adhesive sheet, poke a hole in where you want to fill it,
and squeegee it in until it comes out the other side. You could use
araldite coloured with a bit of fine wood dust to colour it and thicken
it enough to stop it all running out again before it sets.
You could use marine grade low viscosity epoxy resin. "West System" or
similar. If you've got a similar piece of wood, then sand some, collect
the dust, and use that to thicken and colour the epoxy, but also to
"soften" the epoxy once it's set, so that the drill doesn't deflect off
it (perhaps less of a problem if you've got a drill press). If the
timber is teak, or other hardwood, use some other timber dust as filler,
or test it first. Some hardwoods are acidic, and the acid reacts with
the amines in the epoxy hardener before it gets a chance to react with
the epoxide groups on the resin, so it might not set properly. There
are other additives sold with marine epoxy systems, fumed silica - which
thickens it (to use as glue), and silica microspheres to thicken it,
bulk it up, and make it easy to sand. (Sometimes glass or phenolic
microballoons are used, as they give a less porous end product than
epoxy filled with silica spheres, but they're expensive.
Epoxy should always be mixed at exactly the recommended ratio. Not
enough hardener, and the cured resin will be soft/flexible. Too much
hardener, and the resin may be quite hard initially, but will absorb
water and go "cheesy", especially if it's filled, as many boaties trying
quick and easy sanding below waterline filling and fairing have found out.
JohnO
How about drilling the holes out to 10mm or so and plugging with
dowels?
Will the bracket cover all this mess? If so not so much worry about
appearance? Otherwise is the timber painted, stained or varnished? You
could knock the dowels below flush, fill over and sand back for a
pretty good result.
The trouble with just filling the old holes is the uneven density
which would make it extremely difficult to redrill without the bit
wanting to wander off line.
Roger Dewhurst
Drill them out to 6mm and fill them with a mixture of araldite and
sawdust of the right colour.
R
A _L_ P
dabbed on each, that's supposing you need more than one per hole. WIPE
IT OFF WHEN IT FOAMS OUT OF THE HOLE though!!! Put slightly proud of
the surface if you want to sand back to original, if it's stained wood,
or push down to allow a small skim of filler. Little model plane type
paints are good for those tiny jobs. Allow to dry thoroughly before
re-drilling.
A L P
EMB
> Drill them out to 6mm and fill them with a mixture of araldite and
> sawdust of the right colour.
PVA and sawdust is likely to better match the existing density and be
more successful to drill halfway into.
Richard
PVA and toothpicks
thingy
yeah exactly....
10mm is not an option, maybe 3mm, but I'd rather not go that big...the
timber is painted a hi-gloss black...it is a very high quality finish
and very visable....so I have to be careful.
regards
thing
thingy
> A L P
ah ha....bamboo skewers....now that is a good idea....I have those I
think if not easy to get....glue with araldyte that might work
well....two screws holes are well hidden so I think I might try one of
those with a skewer...if it works do the last two. Skewers are
probably small enough to be just hidden under the lip of the
bracket...that might be a perfect job....
thanks
regards
thing
thingy
yeah thought of those but toothpicks tend to be a bit soft I
think....the wood is a harder wood....as opposed to pine....bamboo
might do well as suggested, its slightly bigger diameter as
well....thanks
regards
Thing
JohnO
Ooh, thats tough. Unless the repair is covered by the bracket you
might have to dowel below the surface, fill it, sand it and respray
the whole face.
Look at it on the bright side: Any job can be made perfect if you
throw enough time and money at it, and it is an excuse to purchase a
low pressure airbrush you always wanted.
>
> regards
>
> thing
Gordon
fast