"Toller" wrote in message
...
I bought some walnut at an auction and am using to build a large cabinet.
Well, the bargain wasn't all that good cause the wood is distorted and full
of knot holes. There are two that are completely though the piece, and
they have fallen out, so it is just a hole. I can stick them on the side
that goes next to the wall so they will never be seen (except from the
inside, and then not very well), but what do I do with them. I have to
fill them with something. It seems too big for wood filler. Any way to
make a walnut colored filler that will stay put; maybe mixing walnut dust
with epoxy? Or cutting a hole with a hole saw and somehow making a plug to
go in? Even though they won't be seen, I would still like them to be as
nice as possible.

I got the walnut at about 1/3 of retail, but had to do a lot of extra
planing (fortunately it was 5/4) to get down to good wood. I should have
saved it for a project where I could cut around the defects, but misjudged
how bad it was.

(I'm posting this way just say Larry won't pick on me about my top-posting
habit....;-)

Toller,

Lots of good info from others but no mention of using artists acrylics.
I've used black and ocra mixed together with epoxy and you only need enough
mixed in with the epoxy to color it. Stark black looks good but the dark
ocra gives a hint of brown that looks like knot wood. The nice thing with
using the acrylics is that they're inexpensive and you can just mix them
together to get the exact tone you want before adding the color to the
epoxy. Fill the hole in layers to insure a good fill and cure.

If the finish is ultimately going to be a flat or satin low-luster finish
then sand the epoxy filled areas so they are opaque (not shinny) and when
you apply the finish, they will blend in nicely. Be careful when sanding
though. The epoxy is much harder than the wood and if you're not careful you
will sand the area around the knot holes lower than the epoxy. Best to over
fill the holes ever so slightly then use a single-edged razor blade as a
scraper to scrape the epoxy down level.

You may want to drill a couple of holes in some scraps and practice a few, I
think you'll like the result. I've also used butterflies to cover.... make
that, enhance an imperfection. Use the inlay set (Lee Valley, Rockler...) to
do that as someone recommended.

Bob S.