One of my projects calls for turned half-posts in the corners.  I didn't have time to turn them myself, so I ordered the custom posts from a local turner.  My first task after getting the posts back was cutting them in half lengthwise, which was pretty nerve-wracking!  The turning and sawing came out great, but one of the posts had a couple of chips that needed to be repaired.

I tackled the chip on the flat surface first.  I decided to remove and replace a strip of wood the length of the block, rather than trying to just patch the chipped area.  I marked a line where I wanted to remove material, clamped down a strip of wood to act as a fence for the router, and routed away the material back to the line.

I made a patch that was slightly longer, thicker, and wider than the strip I had removed and glued it into the recess, then sanded the patch flush with the edges of the block.  As you can see (below), the patch virtually disappears

The patch for the second chip had to be pretty small and curved.

I made the patch on the oscillating belt sander, holding the tiny workpiece with needlenose pliers.  After test-fitting the patch several times, I had it almost ready when the sander grabbed the piece and flung it across the room.  It took about two minutes to realize the search was futile, and I started another patch.  Eventually I had a tiny patch that fit.

I knew there would be some glue showing in the seam.  I mixed sawdust into my glue so it would not reject the danish oil later on.

Tags: turning, repair, patch

Categories: General