Fowler Toe Plate ?

[George F.]

I'm in the finishing stages of my Fowler. The butt has some figure in it. I sadly noticed after staining and a few coats of oil on the stock, that a small piece of wood  about 1/4"x1/4" shaped like a U was missing. It must of fractured when inletting the butt plate, and fell off when I removed the butt plate. I am not sure what to do with it since I am nearly done with the stock now. If I had only noticed it before I had stained it, I would have repaired it.  Acer suggested "just fix it". Do you think I should do that now? I've never done a repair on a stock that was already finished before. Any suggestions,tips or opinions welcomed.  ...Geo.

[Roger Fisher]

 You do mean butt plate?? The plate seldom if ever will be removed on down the road so I would simply fit in a repair piece of stock wood smooth it up heavily stain it and the surround and go happily on down the pike.....    

[George F.]

Well Rodger, I was actually thinking of putting a small curved toe plate over the missing piece, but I doubt that it would be the correct thing to do. I guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up, and make the repair. ...Geo.

[dogcreek]

Do you have a picture of the break? It'd be easier to give some repair advice if I could see it. Oftentimes such a repair can be made to be invisible to others as well as to yourself, even when the stock is already stained.

[George F.]

Well, I can take a picture ok, but posting it presents a problem,  my computer has a idiot for an owner...me! It is very small and not deep, and only 1/4" long x1/4" wide maybe only 1/8" deep, as small piece, tomarro, I will get off my keyster and just patch it in. The trouble with this will be the color matching the wood to the stock. It's not beyond my skills, just being lazy, and putting it off.  ...Geo.

[oakridge]

I would think 1/4" X 1/4" would be small enough to mix up some sort of filler to match the stock color. Doesn't sound that hard to me. However...........I have been wrong before.

[George F.]

I was thinking of using water putty by Duhnams, or using some scrap.  ...Geo.

[Longknife]

I have repaired very small cracks or gaps in wood by first staining them and then filling them with spar varnish. Just apply drops of the varnish in the void till you build it up above the surface, carefully sand it down and apply finish. Thsi may take several applications over a couple of days....Ed

[billd]

What about shellac sticks? I used them for furniture repair. You can get them in various colors. Heat them up and they melt into a liquid. Be careful the droplets don't fall on your skin.  Been there, done that, it hurts.   

Bill

[George F.]

Well, I still haven't repaired it. I haven't felt well lately. I will probably get to it by the weekend. These are all the methods I have been thinking of. I have done some, but very little burning in. I have seen some repairs by cabinet repairman that you could not tell where it was repaired, no matter how good you think you are at detecting repairs. The other methods I have done, but were detectable. I think I'mm doing just go with the wood piece glued in and the area finished and blended the best I can. It's just a small piece in a very noticable spot.   Thanks,   ...Geo.

[Larry Luck]

George,
RCA 122 has a fowlerish profile and a small toe plate.
I'd steer away from putty or filler and inlet a small piece.  I had to do that when I discovered worm holes in a stock I was inletting.
Lots harder to do once stained and oiled, I realize.
Good luck,
Larry Luck

[George F.]

That's real nice work Larry. Your heart must of sunk when you saw the worm holes. I can get the patch pretty un-noticable. The chip that's missing is about the size of the "U" on your key board. It is so small, that part of the delay in repairing it is that it is so small. Like I said, it's only1/8" thick at the butt plate at the toe, if that. If I knew how to post pictures, I'd show everyone, but... I'm an idiot when it comes to computer know how... Geo.