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Anybody have a good way to collect a good amount of ebony sawdust for filling with CA glue? I know I can just sand away by hand but thought someone would have a way to collect it with power tools.
Thanks,
Hutch

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Sorry Chuck... I just clean it up off of the bandsaw table. Hand, onto paper, into jar. I don't use the bandsaw to make sawdust, just when I'm resawing or cutting exotics or other I collect it. Guess that makes me a hoarder!

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

I save the dust when I sand the Bridge bottoms to match top radius, I have a whole pill bottle full, one bridge sanding gives quite a bit of dust.

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I have a big bag of the stuff. I just added a bunch by sanding radius to fretboards.

I made a pile of ebony end grain dust from a fingerboard cutoff using a small disk sander sitting on top of a large sheet of freezer paper to catch most of it.

Joe

Hutch,
I had a retired Italian Cabinet maker [Tony] come in to my work shop a few years back , we were talking woodwork and he looked down at the walnut table we were working at ,filling a crack with walnut saw dust and glue.

He told me two things that amazed me , they were such good ideas . they are to do with hide glue .
No 1 should work with whatever glue used.

1. Was when he was a young apprentice he had the job of planing the end grain of a board ,to get the end grain shavings ,to make a filler mixed with glue. Being end grain it crumbles into the finest particles. And he could produce what was needed ,quickly, taking fine shavings.

2. Nothing to do with your question, but the next thing he told me was when mixing a wood /hide glue filler to fill a knot hole in a board that was going to be veneered over, he would mix charcoal in the mix as well,which would control the shrinkage problem with hide glue.


Rob.

Got most of mine from sanding fingerboard radius....brush onto a paper, then into 35mm film canisters (remember Kodachrome??). Have a dozen canisters with different species.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Rob B, I love those stories of how the old Italians would work, particularly since I'm half Italian too. Thanks for sharing.

Joe, I like how you did that with the freezer paper. Did you still get alot of dust in the air?

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Dave S, I never thought about saving the different species of dusts. Good idea.

_________________
"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I use a drum sander in the drill press when making ebony bridges. I just place a piece of cardboard on the table to catch the dust. I keep a few different kinds....ebony, rosewood, maple, holly, mahogany, and black locust.
I have found that I prefer black locust dust when repairing maple bridgeplates. It works equally well with CA or hot hide glue.

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John

Yeah, I guess it's pretty dusty. I do this sort of thing outside on a calm day and wear a mask.

Joe

Yo hutch I have different grades of ebony dust in spice bottles,I have thicker dust from bandsaw , finer dust from sanding machines and , uber thin scrapings from scraper plane, depending on what I am trying to accomplish.Viva la dolce vita.For filling in low spots I use thinnest dust mixed with super thin ca.To build up the cavity I come back agn with a thicker dust and med .gel ca to raise the cavity slightly higher than the fb and then level with file and 320

i thought i was the only one who saved dust! ha
the charcoal idea is intriguing

I never liked using sawdust as a filler-I have always used powdered dyes.

When mixed with epoxy it basically dissolves so creates less "micro- pockets" (I just made that up) so it's thinner and can get into a much tighter space.

I have 30 different colors thanks to a Mohawk Finishing Products large touch up kit that I have had for forever.

I bought a large container of the black dye since that is the one I mostly use.

I've been using various dusts for over 20 years; no issues. No chemicals, either.

I save 'em in watch maker's cases, available from Lee Valley:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... 4948&cat=1

I can clearly see what is in each one. As a filler, it's best to choose a wood, even if it's not the same one you're filling, that is one or two shades lighter, because the glue will darken it. When we look at old inlays, we often see that the old filler is darker than the surrounding wood. That lead me to believe that the filler, despite most likely being the same wood, once saturated with glue, doesn't fade like the surrounding wood, but remains darker. For at least ten years now, I've chosen lighter woods that darkened enough to blend nicely(for example, walnut with EIR), and have watched them "age" nicely.

When I need to refill a case, I head to the thickness sander, place paper on the conveyor, and make sure I don't turn on the dust collection. Running a short piece through a time or two fills a watch case.

I also have collect coarser shavings at the band saw, as others have noted, but haven't found a good use for them yet, other than the smoker.....

Me too - usually from the oscillating sander or the spindle sander. I just put it into ziploc baggies. Got 4 or 5 of em I keep around for whatever.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I like to use a file or a fine rasp to make dust for filling inlays. For one thing, it seem "cleaner" than what is produced by abrasive paper, and I find the coarser the dust, the closer its color will be to the surrounding wood. Of course, these days, with cnc'd inlays, there isn't much need for fillers...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

For filling small gaps and divots I use lacquer for the binder instead of glue. This helps to keep the sawdust the same shade as the piece of wood it came from.

I use dust from my power sanders for most woods, but for spruce, the only method that has worked for me is a file on end grain. Abrasives always leave abrasive particles in the dust that are much darker than the spruce. I use the file on Western Red Cedar too, and I usually add a little spruce dust to get a lighter shade that will be a match when darkened by glue.

I save ebony dust and corian dust for filling too deep nut slots in the little bowl shaped plastic ketchup take out containers and lids from fast food places.