Old wood build (termitecaster)

[Chewie219]

Ok, so my in my grandfathers shop I found a bunch of dried old mahogany and some other unidentified wood. I have cut it in to strips to build a tele body out of it. When I was cutting one of the boards last night I discovered a small issue of termites. They have vacated the wood however it was my last board. I am thinking of continuing to use the boards my question is if there is something I can inject into the wood to fill in some of the holes? Like an epoxy? I don't want to do something black necessarily because I don't want it to stand out to much, but think it could be cool if you could still see the holes. Here are some pics.

[Barncaster]

Oh Rich,

I think you've started something here! ;-)

Rob

[Rich Rice]

LOL.. Could be..

As far as filling the holes, either wood epoxy (opaque) or regular epoxy (transparent, but shows dark) work really well. If there aren't too many showing, it is pretty simple to drill and dowel, or many other ways to handle that dilemma. If it's really rustic, maybe the holes can just be left alone, and enjoyed, or a square head antique nail can be driven to almost flush, then varnished over- tons of ways to make it cool..

[ASC67]

Natural weight relieved body

[Chewie219]

Thank you so very much for the help. Is there a specific brand of expoxy that I should use?

There are way to many holes for the dowl approach, but I am really looking forward to how this will turn out in the end. :)

[Rich Rice]

Well, it depends on what you want to do with it.. On the reclaimed wood thread I use both Loctite heavy duty epoxy (Home Depot or just about anywhere) or else the wood epoxy- mine comes from a pro upholsterer friend, but Woodcraft carries the same stuff-
just relabeled Quickwood.. http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/sea...y=wood%20epoxy

[mobaar]

You could use CA glue to fill in the holes. That will leave the holes visible without there being an actual indentation. It may take a few applications to get it flush.

~Mo

[J Lacey]

I've worked with some wood that had worm holes in it and ask the same questions here as you concerning how to deal with 'em. Looking back I picked up one several things that might help you decide........During my build I felt that some filling was needed in the round over areas and used Plastic Wood.......I wasn't overly happy with the result mainly because the colors they offered just don't come close to the wood I used, even after mixing two factory shades to attempt a match. Not a good choice on my part although the product seems to hold well and do it's intended job. I was glad I only used a very small amount and left most of the holes open. What I would do to correct this (no matter what color putty you used) would be to apply my finish to a scrap piece first and then try to match the tone of my finished wood with filler. The color more than likely will change with the clear applied and then you'll have a better idea what to shoot for if you use a product like Plastic Wood. The wood will change color when finished but the putty won't. You'll be ahead of the game trying to match a finished piece.
Another thing I see is holes not getting any finish in them. I think this is an oversight that shows up later . It's hard to make certain you get down in each little hole while applying finish but your project will look it's best if you don't miss any......
If you apply stain over glue filled holes they won't take the stain. I wanted to "fix" my holes by filling them but in the end discovered that just making sure they got a good dose of finish was best for me.


All these builds are different and Im certainly not over qualified in the advice department. But I have delt with a worm hole or two. Best of luck with your build!


Jeff

[mgdesigns]

Originally Posted by mobaar

You could use CA glue to fill in the holes. That will leave the holes visible without there being an actual indentation. It may take a few applications to get it flush.

~Mo

Some of the wood turnings I've done have started to crack where I did not get all of the pith cut away beforehand. What I've done was mix some of the fine sawdust with medium viscosity CA glue and force it into the cracks. I let it dry, and sanded it back flush - it stops the crack for spreading, and the finish is almost invisible. Actually a lot of pen turners use CA as a sanding sealer, and then finish up to 2000 grit, and it shines without waxes.

[glen smith]

Chewie, how about posting a few up-close pics of the concerned areas so we know what you are dealing with?

[Chewie219]

Attached you will find an example of the termite board. I want to make sure that I can fill the holes fully and still be able to use some kind of oil finish. Tell me what you think.

[Delta Blues]

There's a bug house over yonder....

[Rich Rice]

Yikes. Oil finish doesn't generally do well with any fillers I use. You could fill that with epoxy, but it's pretty far gone. Oil finishes I have used would not adhere well to epoxy, it could get ugly real fast. I'd consider a transparent lacquer in a semigloss, but you know you will be going through a bucket of filler- almost as much hole as there is wood there, buddy.

[Bellybuster]

youser!! that's some serious damage. I seriously doubt you will ever get that wood usable without some stabilizer you will find the wood around the damage is very weak and crumbly.
When making pens out of punky wood like that it needs to be fully stabilized. there are many products to do this but they are expensive. The only problem is that stabilized wood wont take finish like the rest of it.

[fluid69]

Normally i use super glue to fill worm holes but your damage looks pretty bad

Sent from my Smart phone using TDPRI

[crazydave911]

Other than getting my house sprayed ASAP, I believe I'd toss that in the old potbelly stove, sorry

[Warnz]

Sorry, but I'm not sure that piece is worth the effort.

[Chewie219]

Well, kind of disappoint and now having to rethink this build. Luckily the wood has been kept in a shop that is about 50 years old and there are no termites there and it's not my house, but my parents. The outside of the wood is surprisingly thicker than the middle.

Rice, I am going to take your advice on the lacquer if I can't find more of this wood in the shop that may or may not have the same damage.

Since this wood is some what sentimental I don't want to scratch the project yet. If I got the surface holes filled with the epoxy and I am using these strips glued between other boards do you not think that it would be strong enough?

[RogerC]

I'm with everyone else here. As cool as it may seem to make a guitar out of that, I just don't think it's a good idea. We had termites at my house several years ago, and even though the face of the wood looked fine, it obviously wasn't structurally sound. Get yourself some nice wormy chestnut and call it a day.

[Bellybuster]

the only problem with a simple fill is the surrounding wood. It needs to be stabilized as well or you'll run in to all sorts of uneven sanding problems.
Could you possibly place the damaged board where the damage will be cut out when shaping the body?