Fixing Joint Gaps
 

Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

I know exactly what you mean about grand canyon-sized gaps! I've had
fairly good luck with inserting leftover pieces of veneer (sanded
thinner if necessary, with a touch of glue or putty) into the gaps,
then sanding the surface carefully. You can orient the veneer
different ways as necessary to come close to matching grain patterns.
It's easier to work with if you use a bigger piece of veneer (leave
some sticking out while the glue dries) and then trim it with a razor
knife and hand sand. What kind of wood is it? If you can't get
veneer, maybe a thickish hand plane shaving from scrap would work. I
think glue-and-sawdust would work well too - could you scratch or stain
this filler to more closely match the grain on the staves? Practice on
scrap, of course - I could see myself messing something up by trying to
stain a 1/100" scratch in some filler that wouldn't really be visible
anyway...
Good luck, and let us know what works,
Andy

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

Veneer strips, cut to match the grain orientation, glued in?

Art

"rickluce" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

Thanks for the info, and I would use this method if this was a long
grain glueup, but this is an end grain glueup with bisquits to tie the
end grain together, so your method would make the veneer strips 90
degrees to the direction of the grain. In other words my gap runs 90
degrees to the grain direction. Basicly what I have is 4 pieces of 3/4
x 5 x 3 3/16 pieces of wood with (8) 22.5 miters. They Join together
via a bisquit and form a 180 degree arch that is 3/4 inch thick and 5
inches wide( or deep if your looking at the front of the arch)

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

rickluce wrote:
Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don


Perhaps you could rout out a small 1/4" or 1/2" wide by 1/8" deep channel,
and cut/fit some contrasting wood as an inlay?

-John

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

rickluce wrote:
Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue
and the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make
very thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees
to the original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it
looks like the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

Rub some white glue in them and sand immediately. Or use cyanoacrylate
the same way. Latter will wind up dark, former lighter.


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

On 10 Oct 2005 12:20:07 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm,
"rickluce" quickly quoth:

Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

How about inlaying a piece of silver or bronze wire there as an added
"feature"? It wouldn't take much to pull it off. wink

---
In Christianity, neither morality nor religion comes into contact
with reality at any point. --FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
---------------------------------------------------------------
- http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development -

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

"rickluce" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


If the gap is small and non-structural, as you indicate, save some of the
dust from your sanding with 180 grit and rub it into the joint before and
immediately after applying your sanding sealer or first coat of varnish.
The fact that the grain changes direction at the joint will always be
apparent, so a small gap filled this way will not be as glaring. It will
also look more natural than one packed with an oil-impervious sawdust and
acrylic patch.

If you do go with a glue/sawdust fill, use of solvent finishes that build
will minimize the dead fish luster.

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

With that size of gap I think I would try the old glue and sanding approach.
I am afraid anything you insert that adds a cross-grain appearance will
stick out worse than the sawdust patch.

RonB

"rickluce" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello All,
Just made the outer casing to an arched clock. The arch was
made by inserting a bisquit into the end grain of (4) 3 3/16 inch long
staves with a 22.5 degree angle on each end(so the wood makes a 180
degree turn). I've got a little gaposis were the top staves join
together. My question for you all is...what method would you use to
hide the gap. My first instinct is to insert a small amount of glue and
the fill with a little of the project sawdust. I could also make very
thin strips of wood and fill, but this would be going 90 degrees to the
original grain. The gap is small (in theory, in reality it looks like
the Grand Canyon)~ .01 inch. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

Fixing Joint Gaps
 

Thanks for the posts all. I think with the information you gave me my
project will be a success