Accenting Checks in End Grain

If the checks are stable, should work fine. You will stain the surrounding area, so apply with care.

Be sure to use a stain that is compatible with your filler (water based stain for water based filler etc…)

-- Nicky

I guess I did not make my question clear. I would like to stain the filler, then “pack” it into the cracks, and finish the wood, as usual. I want the checks to be accented, not covered up.

The cracks look to be atable. Could I stain some epoxy with some red oak stain by minwax and pack that in the checks? The wood is redwood, and I will use some purpleheart inlay.
Thanks.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

You can use TransTints for most any tinting process. Rockler, Woodcraft, Highland Woodworking

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

You were clear, in looking at my response; I don’t think I was clear. I’ve done this, on a band saw box.

You can stain filler. You should mix in a stain/tint that is compatible. If you’re using water based filler, then use water based stain. You can also buy fillers that are colored/tinted.

When you apply the filler to fill the checks, the surrounding area will absorb some of the moisture from the filler, so use sparingly, else the area you are trying to fill will blend, and you won’t have the contrast you’re looking for.

-- Nicky

Thanks, Nicky. I am planing to stain the wood the same color, just a lighter sade. This is on a piece of “scarp” redwood cut off from a fence post. I was going to just toss it in the trash, but it kept crying out to me, “Look! I am a box waiting to be made!” So, I am making a box, maybe as a Christmas gift for my neice.

Here’s my plan: I am going to blend some minwax red oak stain into my wood filler taht is touted as “stainable” using a putty knife. I will “pack” it in the checks, and then sand and scrape the extra off and then apply a gel finish to teh rest of the wood. I am hoping that the putty will be a darker shade and will radiate on the ends. The tropical storm, Henriete is due to blow in early morning, so I will be doing it inside my shop tomorrow, and cut it out with bandsaw.

I will post it soon. Thanks for the advice.

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Stay safe!

-- Nicky

Hello Hawg;
—-well coming in late here, I also have an-other way of doing this business of accenting checks and such.

If I am reading you right in your question here you are also wondering about keeping the color in the filler from spreading to the surrounding wood. I usually will in cases such as this tape off the surrounding wood, with masking tape and then proceed with a filler. After the filler has staterted getting a good set, I will then scrape off the excess with a putty knife….let dry and if another application is needed I will then reapply.

Granted yes, the time spent for masking will take some time, but I have also found that this is time well spent since the surrounding wood stays free from color contamination. You may also note from the following photos that I cannot always get all checks and cracks in one taping, so then I will go back and tape and fill those other areas that need to be protected.

....and….

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Now bear in mind that there is no one way to do this and what I have learned to do is//has only been proven to work for my satisfaction. But then I also am always amazed and pleased at the final outcome….

This is not wood putty, since wood putty will over time start to chip and wear out due to wood movement. I use a two part polymer system, to which I add crushed up artist chalk to achieve the colors I am going after….

....and….

....and….

I hope this helps some more along with all the other fine solutions you have been offered here. And rest assured that the taping process for what you are doing will not get as involved as what I am showing you here in my project….I had about three days of taping miny minute silvers of masking tape to get the curves all worked out and protected….but in the end I was satisfied.

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank, That is a beautiful slab! Much, much larger than the little box i am making! Interesting, though. Where do you get the polymer?
Can I apply that to a small surface then scrape it away from the surface, leaving the color in the small cracks? I am talking small end-grain cracks that look similar to sunrays. The whole box is around 4” x 3” x 3”. Small. I think I may use gel stain and rub it well into the cracks. Maybe try it on a scrap piece. This ia all experimantal for me, but that is how I learn best!

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards

Turners face this stuff all the time. Craft Supply and a few others supply all sorts of stuff. Ground turquoise, coral, malachite, and other minerals, brass, silvertone and goldtone stuff. Coffee grounds work well if you want to go dark. With these things, you do your coloring before it hits the gaps, though. Nice touches. Saw one last night that used Corian dust!

-- Dean, Missouri