# Help - need recommendations, please



## TRfromMT (Sep 7, 2017)

I have been asked to make some knife handles out of some material that is very special to the customer, and I first recommended it be stabilized. Then he sent the photos below. It is spalted oak with quite a bit of worm hole and bug hole, some going through with plenty of dust and even dry rot.

Can these sorts of scales be cast? I am only familiar with having K&G stabilize relatively solid blocks. I am not sure what needs to be done to save these. Recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,


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## rocky1 (Sep 7, 2017)

If you still have dust, you may still have worms in it Tony. Might want to pop it in the oven and bake it a little while. 

Yes, it can be stabilized, without a problem, in fact they may be able to fill the holes in that process, but that's iffy. Once stabilized you may be able to fill with black CA easier than casting them. But, yes it can be cast; worm holes aren't always good candidates for casting however. Even under pressure the resin doesn't always get where all you need it to get in worm holes. Unless the back side of them is way worse, I'd stabilize and go with black CA fill, personally.

Reactions: Agree 3 | Informative 1


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## TRfromMT (Sep 8, 2017)

Thanks @rocky1 
Next question then. When I have used CA in the past on a large area, open to the air, it hazes white. It gets a crusty white surface. How do you keep it from doing that?


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## rocky1 (Sep 8, 2017)

Sand and buff after the fact. On darker woods I wet sand with Boiled Linseed Oil, on lighter woods I use water. Oak, I'd use BLO.


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## Frank A (Oct 24, 2017)

I would try to fill the holed with a slow curing resin like PR but would get it into the worm holes by in injecting it. I did something similar by buying a bag of jello shot syringes on Amazon.


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