# filling a hole in a slab wood project



## chrisagnew (Mar 14, 2008)

Folks:

I have purchased some decent looking hickory to make a slab style coffee table. The pieces have some oblong holes in it where knots are etc.

They are not huge but they need to be filled in with something. Im sure others here have come across the same problem and I am hoping they will share with me what they used to fill the gap. Epoxy?


> Wood filler


I am open to any suggestions.

thanx in advance

Chris


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## DaddyZ (Jan 28, 2010)

I would use Epoxy with some sawdust.


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

A Dutchman/Butterfly patch might be a better solution than using just filler or epoxy. It would also allow you to use contrasting wood for the patches to make it even more interesting.


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## lilredweldingrod (Nov 23, 2009)

Ditto on epoxy and sawdust.


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## Lumber2Sawdust (Jul 22, 2010)

It really depends on the look you want. If you want to patch the holes and minimize the appearance, then the epoxy/sawdust method would be good.

If you want to highlight these "features" of the wood, you could fill them with an epoxy colored to contrast with your project.

My first thought is more in line with Greg - use a butterfly key, or other small inlay to cover the hole. I did this on a workbench project recently which has some defects I wanted to smooth out. I patched the maple top with walnut diamond-shaped inlays. They are pretty easy to do, you can make any shape you want, and can give you a nice contrast. If you go this route, you would still want to fill the hole behind the inlay so that it stabilizes the wood you put over the top.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

All good suggestions. Also I saw a guy route out a loose knot. He then found a similar shape/size tight knot and inlayed it. Looked cool. And yeah, ladies can do this just as good as guys can.


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## swirt (Apr 6, 2010)

If you are looking for something more outside the woodworking box, I've seen some nice work done with inlaying a natural stone or even a glass marble. I'm not sure what look you are shooting for so it is hard to say for sure.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I have used "Z-Poxy" with crushed colored chalk mixed in it.


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## TheWoodsman (Jun 21, 2010)

Epoxy is your best bet because it can be filled all at once and doesn't shrink as it dries. Adding sawdust will not make it match. I would recommend using it as sort of a "design element". Add some colorant or powder to it.

Though they use other materials and processes these guys may give you some ideas.

http://andysanchez.com/AndyandAaron/HTML/coffeetables.html


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