Finally fixed a tear-out disaster on a walnut face frame last week

I was routing a groove in my home shop when the bit caught and ripped a nasty chunk out, so I mixed some fine dust with a dab of epoxy, packed it in, and after it cured you can barely see the spot unless you know where to look.

3 comments

3 Comments

alicesingh1mo ago

What kind of epoxy did you use for the filler... I've had mixed results with the five-minute stuff not taking stain well at all.

king.derek1mo ago

Read a woodworking forum where people said the five minute stuff cures too fast for stain to soak in. @alicesingh, they recommended a slower setting epoxy like the 30 minute kind for better results. The longer cure time lets the stain penetrate before the epoxy fully hardens.

tyler61mo ago

Honestly @alicesingh, I saw the exact same thing on a forum last week. They were saying the fast epoxy gets a hard skin that stain just sits on top of. Tbh, I switched to a longer set time epoxy for fillers and it made a huge difference. The stain actually soaks in like it does with the wood around it. Ngl, it's a bit more of a pain to wait for it to cure, but the finish looks way more even.