I recently acquired an 8' x 8" x 4" red oak mantle piece (for $25).
When I received it, I found some deep cracks in it, as it had split in
the kiln. I'm going to try to use it anyway. For $25, I've got little
to lose. My question is this:

What should I use to fill the voids in the wood? I expect there's some
kind of filler that would work well, which I could top with a sandable
and stainable putty. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Scott

In article . com, wrote:
I recently acquired an 8' x 8" x 4" red oak mantle piece (for $25).
When I received it, I found some deep cracks in it, as it had split in
the kiln. I'm going to try to use it anyway. For $25, I've got little
to lose.

You may not care about the money, but what about the time you're going to
waste trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? That has value too. Go
ahead and use it anyway -- *in* the fireplace, not *above* it.

What should I use to fill the voids in the wood?

No need to, for firewood. :-)

I expect there's some
kind of filler that would work well, which I could top with a sandable
and stainable putty.

No, not really. No matter what you do, it's still going to look like it was
filled and stained.

What do you recommend?

Use lumber that was dried properly. As this piece expands and contracts with
seasonal changes in humidity -- and exposure to high temps in service as a
fireplace mantle -- those cracks will grow. Any filler you put in will
eventually come out, too.

You're probably better off building up a hollow box from 1" lumber than hoping
to find a 4x8 that was dried properly.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Rip the board to eliminate the cracks and then reglue the good pieces
together.


wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently acquired an 8' x 8" x 4" red oak mantle piece (for $25).
When I received it, I found some deep cracks in it, as it had split in
the kiln. I'm going to try to use it anyway. For $25, I've got little
to lose. My question is this:

What should I use to fill the voids in the wood? I expect there's some
kind of filler that would work well, which I could top with a sandable
and stainable putty. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Scott

Depending on the extent of cracking, you might try to close them up by
injecting glue, then clamping so the cracks close. You could then reinforce
it from the back with a coutersunk lag screw or some similar way. Good
luck.

Steve

wrote in message
ups.com...
I recently acquired an 8' x 8" x 4" red oak mantle piece (for $25).
When I received it, I found some deep cracks in it, as it had split in
the kiln. I'm going to try to use it anyway. For $25, I've got little
to lose. My question is this:

What should I use to fill the voids in the wood? I expect there's some
kind of filler that would work well, which I could top with a sandable
and stainable putty. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Scott

On 19 Sep 2005 08:39:13 -0700, wrote:


What should I use to fill the voids in the wood?

A lot of it depends on the appearance you're willing to live with. I
cut a lot of red oak on my hunting property and use some "hunks" for
cabin furniture. When it develops splits (usually) I use what I use to
bed rifle barrels in a stock - Brownells Acra Glass bedding compound.

You can tint it, it's incredibly stable (near 0 shrinkage), and bonds
to wood (unfinished wood that is) like you won't believe. It can be
sanded, scraped or planed. I use a meat syringe (like for injecting a
turkey), or the syringes that Brownells sells, flow the stuff in and
let it set. Masking tape and a bit of old fashioned kids' modeling
clay can be used to build a dam around the edges to allow for a bit of
build up to sand down. Spray Pam or its ilk on the masking tape before
sticking it down (works better than the release compound that comes
with Acra Glass kits). It won't look like wood, but if you put in the
black dye in the kit it does look like a weird grain stripe - WTH.


Try

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/sto...le=ACRAGLAS%7e

BTW, their catalog is almost a collector's item. It weighs about 2
pounds and has more "stuff" for gun nuts than you can imagine. Like
the old Herters catalogs, everything is "the best", "the ultimate",
"the unduplicatable", and many other superlative type words. It's
neat!

I have no commercial relationship with Brownells, but am I very
satisfied customer for the past 30 years.

Regards.

In article . com,
wrote:

I recently acquired an 8' x 8" x 4" red oak mantle piece (for $25).
When I received it, I found some deep cracks in it, as it had split in
the kiln. I'm going to try to use it anyway. For $25, I've got little
to lose. My question is this:

What should I use to fill the voids in the wood? I expect there's some
kind of filler that would work well, which I could top with a sandable
and stainable putty. What do you recommend?

Thanks,
Scott

Hi Scott,

If the stain is a dark color and the crack(s) are sort of
along the grain, you might be able to fill/restain.

I have had the best results from Elmers stainable
wood filler which comes in different colors to start
with, but is still stainable. I use dark walnut with
Minwax special walnut stain. I have tried other
fillers, but this takes stain the best (of the three
or four I have had experience with). Both at HD.

I found it very important not to try to sand the
filler too much only down (up?) to 100 grit or so.
Soaks the stain better. You can adjust
the gloss with the finish coats.

Personally, I think that it's kind of cool to use an old
(even beat-up) mantel if it has character!

A nice conversation piece.

Lou

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article . com,
wrote:

What do you recommend?

Use lumber that was dried properly. As this piece expands and contracts
with
seasonal changes in humidity -- and exposure to high temps in service as a
fireplace mantle -- those cracks will grow. Any filler you put in will
eventually come out, too.

You're probably better off building up a hollow box from 1" lumber than
hoping
to find a 4x8 that was dried properly.


The box is the answer. Even if you fill the checks with oak wedges for best
match, you're involved in a crapshoot with all that dry heat. Likely to
discover more trouble first heating season.

How about just using it as is, cracks and all?

Go at with with a few hand planes and chisels, rustic and all.

Ayup, I like that idea...

David.