Burning over Plastic (wood fillers)

[John Smith]

I thought I could "get by" with using Bondo and Epoxy in making some (thin) small cosmetic repairs before burning.
I was wrong - you can not burn Bondo or Epoxy.
so - the question is: what material have you found for small repairs that can be burned with the same cosmetic degree as the surrounding wood ?? projects that will be painted, not stained or clear-coated.

[joepaulbutler]

John, I use QuikWood, for repairs, Have not done any detail burning though.

[DiLeon]

What about using a burn repair stick??? the same color as the burn. Not sure what your asking although..

[Brian T]

Needed to fill some rot-spots on a western red cedar burl. Cubic inch and smaller.
Then more carving, sanding, staining and painting to finish.

Found a little tub of LePage's "plastic wood". No smell, pasty like butter. Very close color match by good luck, I suppose. Worked like a dream. No hesitation to use it for gap-filler.

Mind you, I've never done any pyro in that stuff so have nothing to add.

[Randy]

John I mostly use burn for hair, feather and such. For what its worth I have made a thick mix of sawdust form a scrap of the wood I was using and wood glue to pach chip outs and flaws and after sanding and reshaping I have burned lines though it . I have also drilled a fallow hole with a bit just a little bigger than the flaw then glued in a plug using a carver pach or a peice of dowle. These were project that would be painted. With cracks I carve a peice of scap that maches the wood and glue and tap the pach in to the hole.

[John Smith]

I may be overthinking it a little. when I "changed heads" on the snake cane, I had to put in a little Bondo to get it all smooth (as I normally do). the pyro tools just makes the Bondo mushy and leaves no detail. with such a small area, I may just come back after the primer goes on and hand-carve the few scales that need touching up and call this one part of the tuition that we all pay in one form or another.
This will probably be labeled "Prototype" before it is all said and done LOL.
so the bottom line is: not looking for the "normal filler or matching anything" as it will be painted.
Photos always help to tell the whole story:

image_26258.jpg

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[Glenn Jennings]

Hi John
I would suggest carving a hole with in a bit of scrap wood and filling it with sanding dust mixed to a relatively thick paste a bit like scone dough with titebong or pva glue then see how that responds to a burn. I think it will work. You should also get a similar burn colour that way. Try different heat settings to get the best burn. You might want to give the surface of the hole a light coat of glue to ensure a good bond on your mixture.

Hope this helps.

[dave.keele]

I thought I could "get by" with using Bondo and Epoxy in making some (thin) small cosmetic repairs before burning.
I was wrong - you can not burn Bondo or Epoxy.
so - the question is: what material have you found for small repairs that can be burned with the same cosmetic degree as the surrounding wood ?? projects that will be painted, not stained or clear-coated.

Hey, John.

I wish I could find a filler that would burn like wood, but not aware that such a thing exists. In the mean time, you might try using "green stuff".

https://gregdorrance.com/product/kne...epoxy-9-strip/

I use it to fill voids on bird carvings. On the hummingbird below, I used it to make the eye-lids and filled the joint where the wings attach to the body. I use dental tools to shape and form the putty into place and then to add detail. The body and wings were detailed with a wood burner and a dental pick-tool detailed the putty to match the wood burning.

Since the epoxy putty will stick to metal, I constantly stick the tool into plastalina modeling clay as I work. The oil in the plastalina helps to keep the epoxy from sticking to the tool.

My favorite epoxy has been Kulis Karvit, (discontinued). Once cured, it could be ground with rotary bits. I use it to make bird feet. Greg Dorrance suggests Aves Apoxie Clay as a substitute. I need to try some and see if it compares to Karvit.

K 15.jpg

[John Smith]

thanks for all the info, guys - since there is just a small amount of filler in this project, I won't be using anything in the future and try to break my bad habit that "Bondo cures all Defects". LOL that may be true in my normal routines, but, not for something that will be Pyroed. even a very small 1/32" thick layer will not burn successfully. Lesson Learned on this one, for sure.
John