Bug holes

[Mauser06]

I have a completely shaped stock with a couple bug holes. 


There are only a few holes and no "tracks".  If there was a bunch of holes and tracks, I'd leave them and call it character.  But being just a few, and being the extreme figure in the maple, I'd like to fill them and make them go away. 


Other than scraping dust and carving shavings, I won't have wood from the stock to patch them. 


Any ideas on the best way to make them go away???


Anyone ever finish a stock with staining from said but holes?   There are 2 spots on the maple stock that are near walnut color from the bug stain...I think they'll blend right in...but not sure....


Thanx!

[Stoner creek]

A tooth pick and a little epoxy should do the trick.

[rich pierce]

Show me a picture of the curl. I can likely find a piece that is a close match and send it to you.

[Mauser06]

Rich, I sent you a PM.  I think the pics should work.


Stoner creek, I considered that.  Just don't know if it's the best option. 




That gives you an idea of what I gotta work with....that hole in the comb is deep enough it's not going away....and the holes are in the stained areas.....

[Marcruger]

I would fill it with black epoxy, after spraying some insecticide in the hole. The holes I have seen filled with black look to my eye as natural character. Other tinted colors like brown always appear to me as being false.  Just my 2 cents worth. God bless, Marc

[FDR]

Ambrosia beetles at work. Stain the stock then apply a little super glue gel in the holes. They will show up black in the final finish. Looks very natural.

Fred

[BOB HILL]

The ambrosia beetle is long gone from your stock. Don’t worry about killing it. I have bleached the stain out before, but after AQ it’s usually not real noticeable.
Bob

[Ky-Flinter]

How do you tell that the beetle is actually gone?

-Ron

[BOB HILL]

I have never seen any active ones in dry wood. I always put insecticide on any wood I put up to dry anyway. It’s not going to hurt to put it on. Powder post beetles have always been my enemy.
Bob

[Ghillie]

Ambrosia beetles attack the wood when it is green.  They only inhabit the sapwood.  Once the wood is dry they are no longer a problem.  An insecticide is not needed.  I ran our state's pesticide regulatory program for @25 years.  Don't worry about that one hole.

[rsells]

I had the same problem nearly in the same place on the comb.  The bug hole was a bit more forward than yours and it kept getting bigger as I worked the comb down to the final profile.  I took a scrap piece of material that I had cut off the stock blank and cut a piece slightly larger than the area I was trying to repair.  I oriented the repair piece so that the grain would match the direction in the hole.  I tapered the repair plug and inlet it into the cavity as close as I could get to the edges.  I took the plug out and stained the mating surfaces of the plug and the stock.  Next, I used liquid Acraglas from Brownell's (with stain added to best match the stained wood) to flood the cavity and mating surfaces. Then, I put the repair plug in the opening.  The trick was to get a good fit between the plug and opening, and it was critical that the final shape of the comb was almost there.  I worked the plug down to match the comb profile, and applied stain and finish.  The repair was invisible, but it took a bit of work and time.  I sent photo's to the customer showing him the damaged area before and after the repair to see if he was OK with what I had done.  He took the rifle and has had it for five years now without any issues.  If I can find the photo's I will attach them to this message.  This has happened to me twice since 1978.  The first time I scrapped the stock and started from the beginning with a new blank.  Bummer!!
Good luck.
                                                                           Roger Sells   

[BOB HILL]

Ambrosia beetles attack the wood when it is green.  They only inhabit the sapwood.  Once the wood is dry they are no longer a problem.  An insecticide is not needed.  I ran our state's pesticide regulatory program for @25 years.  Don't worry about that one hole.

There you go. I knew someone with more knowledge than me would chime in. I don’t know what state Ghillie is from, but I read somewhere that it first showed up in Charleston in peach trees from Asia in the early 70’s. I know I’ve seen a lot of it in maple over the years since. At first it was only in the outer edges of logs and as the years went by and the trees grew older you would see it deeper. This lead me to think it only entered the outer surface and exited.

[WadePatton]

I would fill it with black epoxy, after spraying some insecticide in the hole. The holes I have seen filled with black look to my eye as natural character. Other tinted colors like brown always appear to me as being false.  Just my 2 cents worth. God bless, Marc

I'll have to agree on colors.  Black goes with anything, matching is only good when it's dead on.

[Mike Brooks]

How do you tell that the beetle is actually gone?

-Ron

You knock on the wood and say loudly "HELLO! IS ANYBODY IN THERE?" If no beetle comes out it means there aren't any in there. It's they way I do it.

[Ky-Flinter]

Mike,

I tried that, but them bugs being from Asia, they don't understand English.

-Ron

[Pukka Bundook]

In that case, a flamethrower should fetch them out.

( Mebbe I shouldn't have written that...)

[Mike Brooks]

Mike,

I tried that, but them bugs being from Asia, they don't understand English.

-Ron

Then you might say "DOMO MORIGOTTO MR ROBOTO" I don't know what that means but I think it's Japanese.....

[Nordnecker]

I did know that was the work of the Ambrosia beetle. But didn't know until doing a quick google search that the Ambrosia beetle doesn't eat the wood itself. It lives in harmony with the Ambrosia fungus. The fungus eats the wood and leaves the resulting stain. The beetle larvea aparently eats after the fungus does it's work, then it turns into an adult and carries the fungus to a new tree.
Fascinating, as Spock would say.

[Nordnecker]

Mike,

I tried that, but them bugs being from Asia, they don't understand English.

-Ron

Then you might say "DOMO MORIGOTTO MR ROBOTO" I don't know what that means but I think it's Japanese.....

This probably only works if you can say it while your mouth enunciates other words, out of sync like the old Japanese horror films.

[Clark Badgett]

Mike,

I tried that, but them bugs being from Asia, they don't understand English.

-Ron

Then you might say "DOMO MORIGOTTO MR ROBOTO" I don't know what that means but I think it's Japanese.....

Domo arigato Mr Roboto, means "thank you very much Mr Roboto"

[Mike Brooks]

Mike,

I tried that, but them bugs being from Asia, they don't understand English.

-Ron

Then you might say "DOMO MORIGOTTO MR ROBOTO" I don't know what that means but I think it's Japanese.....

Domo arigato Mr Roboto, means "thank you very much Mr Roboto"

After all the work the beetle goes through to ruin that piece of wood I think "thank you very much Mr Roboto" is very appropriate.

[Waksupi]

I had the same problem nearly in the same place on the comb.  The bug hole was a bit more forward than yours and it kept getting bigger as I worked the comb down to the final profile.  I took a scrap piece of material that I had cut off the stock blank and cut a piece slightly larger than the area I was trying to repair.  I oriented the repair piece so that the grain would match the direction in the hole.  I tapered the repair plug and inlet it into the cavity as close as I could get to the edges.  I took the plug out and stained the mating surfaces of the plug and the stock.  Next, I used liquid Acraglas from Brownell's (with stain added to best match the stained wood) to flood the cavity and mating surfaces. Then, I put the repair plug in the opening.  The trick was to get a good fit between the plug and opening, and it was critical that the final shape of the comb was almost there.  I worked the plug down to match the comb profile, and applied stain and finish.  The repair was invisible, but it took a bit of work and time.  I sent photo's to the customer showing him the damaged area before and after the repair to see if he was OK with what I had done.  He took the rifle and has had it for five years now without any issues.  If I can find the photo's I will attach them to this message.  This has happened to me twice since 1978.  The first time I scrapped the stock and started from the beginning with a new blank.  Bummer!!
Good luck.
                                                                           Roger Sells   

This is pretty much the method I've used for years, although I always dye the epoxy black. Any other color seems to stand out.
I did one stock with over two dozen patches done like this. It was named best of show by Field and Stream that year at the SCI show.