Filling gaps in planks #2....

[HardeeHarHar]

Ok, so I just finished planking the Secret Vessel, which is a wooden "submarine" in the general shape of a keg.  I have some small gaps.  I was wondering if anyone just made a dilute PVA solution and painted the whole kit and kabooodle, and before the glue dried, went around and sanded the whole thing allowing the sawdust to penetrate into the wet cracks and dry there?  Also, will the glue prevent a stain from penetrating evenly using this technique?  Just curious.  Thanks for any suggestions or comments on this approach!

[Peanut6]

HHH, I've tried the PVA and sawdust mixture on my Jolly Boat.  It really didn't work for me but I'll bet I had the proportions wrong.  I saw a build where they filled the gags with PVA and then packed sawdust in abundance over the top and they had great results when it dried and was sanded down.  I do know that you can get wood filler in different colors so you can select the one that most matches your wood.  My experience has been that PVA doesn't take a stain and some wood fillers do not either.  In "window shopping" at various stores I know that there is a stainable wood filler.  For me I guess the brass ring would be a colored stainable wood filler.

  

[Knocklouder]

Hello, this is what I do , careful maybe not the best ideal lol, I use a heat gun  a guick second and move things around, I think I read that this weakens the glue, careful to much heat and you pop everything. I also use saw dust and glue, just a little glue lots of dust spread over just the cracks sand good and your good to go.. But this is what I do may not be correct  lol.

  Bob M.

[HardeeHarHar]

I'm thinking stainable wood filler, with more sawdust on top of that, and a prayer.  The planking came out nice enough that I'd like to get a nice even stain, without glue making it uneven (if that is a possibility).  Here are some pics before I sanded it down a bit.  I need to sand it more, but I want to fill the gaps before I do that.

[Keith_W]

The trick is to dilute your PVA glue. For about 1 tablespoon of sawdust, I add 1-2 drops of PVA. Then I dilute it with water to form a paste. There is juuuust enough glue to hold the sawdust in place, and enough sawdust to take a stain if you want to. 

[Knocklouder]

Me again, what I see, you need a really  sharp  wood scraper, take the high edges off ever so slightly  then sand you will be good,  you are close to perfection  my friend 

[Knocklouder]

8 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

Me again, what I see, you need a really  sharp  wood scraper, take the high edges off ever so slightly  then sand you will be good,  you are close to perfection  my friend 

But I am still learning  lol

[HardeeHarHar]

@Knocklouder, I like your attitude and your advice.  Same goes for the rest of the motley crew on the forum.  One thing I overlooked in my previous posts: for all those in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!!  I give thanks for all the people on the forum that I can get to know better and learn from, among many other things.  

[Oldsalt1950]

Brian, your secret vessel reminds me of the first U.S. submersible the Turtle, piloted by Sgt. Ezra Lee during the revolutionary war. You can go the glue and sawdust route, or find a stainable wood filer either will work. You might look at Woodland Scenics webpage and their tutorial on ballasting railroad tracks. You don't need much glue to fill in those gaps with sawdust. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Jim

[HardeeHarHar]

Thanks Jim,  I’ll check out the Turtle and Sht Lee, sounds interesting!   Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[Jaager]

Make a few mock ups of planks and gaps.  Test fillers on that.

Then try your stain on the tests.

A stain is a surface critter.  It is pigment granules in a binder that sits on the surface.  A semi-transparent paint.

A dye is dissolved molecules that penetrate the wood and become part of it.

 

If your wood is Basswood, a stain may be a good choice.  The wood itself is not really something to celebrate with a dye and clear finish.  If a filler and a stain do not work together, a shellac primer may turn the whole - filler and wood - into a surface that accepts a stain with no difference between patch and wood.

 

For a dye, you may have to dye the wood flour before mixing it with white PVA (white drys clear) (yellow drys amber).

Or, if the wood flour soaks up too much dye and is too dark, dye the wood before you sand it to make the wood flour (a pre-colored filler).

 

[HardeeHarHar]

Now that sounds pretty authoritative my good man.  Thanks for sharing that inform.  I will be reading that a few times before I feel comfortable that I can employ the knowledge.  THANK YOU JAAGER!

[rtropp]

I have used a product called "Model Lite - a lightweight filler." It is by Deluxe Materials.  I can't remember where I got it, probably either Hobbylinc or Amazon.  At first, I thought it was too light, i.e., weightless. When wet it was very easy to shape and when it dried it was solid, extremely smooth and easy to sand. It worked well to fill gaps in single planking. It was also good in other areas where there were some gaps, such as a deck cabin. It took airbrushing well, but I did not try staining. 

Richard

 

 

[Oldsalt1950]

Brian. here is a link to Turtle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(submersible)

 

Jim

[HardeeHarHar]

3 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Brian. here is a link to Turtle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_(submersible)

 

Jim

I was looking at that!  I think it would be a cool kit as a companion piece to the Secret Vessel.

[Oldsalt1950]

It is definitely one of a kind. Considering when it was built , it was quite the engineering marvel of its day.

 

Jim

[HardeeHarHar]

5 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

It is definitely one of a kind. Considering when it was built , it was quite the engineering marvel of its day.

 

Jim

Agreed!!x2!!!  Thanks for the link and the information Jim, I appreciate it.  I am enjoying the little Secret Vessel kit so far.

[HardeeHarHar]

Here she is at the present

[Captain Shaun]

 

I use Famowood Filler. It is water based, dries fast and hard, sands nice and takes stain well. It comes in a bunch of wood types and the 6 oz cans will do a lot of filling. It is available on Amazon and many other online retailers, also available at Ace Hardware and Home Depot.

 

[HardeeHarHar]

I’ve only tried filler in a tube once or twice and I made a mess of it, as the excess was in a place that was hard to sand flat…

[Peanut6]

@Keith_W thank you so much for the ratio information, as I suspected I had mine all wrong and it is no surprise it didn't work for me.

[glbarlow]

PVA diluted about 50:50 with distilled water, put that in the gap with a pin trying to contain the glue in the gap as much as possible, add sawdust from the same wood you’re using, try to pack it in with a flat tool. Neither the glue or the sawdust has to be a perfect fit, just minimized as much as practical.  Let it dry thoroughly then lightly sand with 320, 400, 600 sandpaper until nothing is on the surrounding wood, just in the gap. Also being careful not to over-sand and creating a gouge. 

 

It’s a bit of an acquired skill, but done well it can lead to virtually invisible fills.  I don’t use wood stains, but it does take Wipe On Poly just fine. This is all in reference to small gaps, large gaps I don’t know.

Edited November 27, 2022 by glbarlow

[Captain Shaun]

As an alternative to sanding I prefer to use a scraper for removing excess filler. I use a single edge razor that I have filed the edge a bit to remove the sharpness. Excellent control and little chance of removing too much surrounding material. 

[HardeeHarHar]

23 minutes ago, Captain Shaun said:

As an alternative to sanding I prefer to use a scraper for removing excess filler. I use a single edge razor that I have filed the edge a bit to remove the sharpness. Excellent control and little chance of removing too much surrounding material. 

Agreed, that is something I will have to try and become proficient at.  I was looking at scrapers, and have seen some amazing work done with a single edge razor that has been configured to perform specific contouring, etc.  The keg shape of the secret vessel presents some unique challenges, but I am sure that someone who knows what they are doing could make short work of the task by scraping.  Thanks Captain Shaun!

[Dziadeczek]

If you have troubles locating an appropriate scraper, you can use a piece of broken glass (its sharper edge), just be careful not to cut your fingers during scraping (shaving) - for protection wrap the held edge of the glass with duct tape.

[Oldsalt1950]

Brian, you may want to look at these: Scrapers . For the price it is a good investment and should cover all your bases.

 

Jim

[HardeeHarHar]

10 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Brian, you may want to look at these: Scrapers . For the price it is a good investment and should cover all your bases.

 

Jim

Agreed!  Thanks Jim!!!

[Oldsalt1950]

Anytime Brian.

 

Jim

 

[Captain Shaun]

34 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Brian, you may want to look at these: Scrapers . For the price it is a good investment and should cover all your bases.

 

Jim

I have those same ones excellent  quality. Cabinet scrapers like those work by filing the edge square and than forming a hook on the edge with a burnishing tool. Any hardened steel rod will work such as a drill bit or you can but tool made for that. It is not as hard as it sounds just find a YouTube video on it.