Worm Hole

[Mike Lyons]

I’m working from the Mike Brooks tutorial and almost right on queue page 83 a worm hole is showing up.  It’s fairly deep but I still have a lot of wood to remove.  If it doesn’t go away, how do you deal with them?  I like the character but it is in a bad spot.  If it is still there after final scraping should I fill it with CA glue and stained sawdust?   

[mountainman70]

Y'all got worms down there in Kaintuck?  Be careful who ya hang around with.hahaha

I would fill it likle you said. I have a similar problem with a build, and 2 holes right on top of the wrist. Thinking of making them into a wrist/tamg site.
 How was your ahah  'Vacation" ? Hope it wasn't the cf  travel wise mine was down that way. Best regards, Dave

[Goo]

Make a plug glue it in and Finnish the gun lots of originals have plugged holes perfectly acceptable.

[Stoner creek]

Ugly but not structurally a problem. Bring it to Knoxville and show it to some experts. You’re going to get good advice directly from the experts.
I never saw any indication of a flaw in that blank 

[Mike Lyons]

Wayne, There wasn’t any warning. It just appeared. I’m still thinking it will rasp away.  That area is quite a bit thinner on my plans.   The hole is right at 1/8” deep and I have 1/8” to still rasp away. Dave,  CF sums up my  vacation perfectly.  I only lost my cool 3 times in 4 days.  The wife finally started talking to me today. I think all is well. We still need to grab lunch.

[mountainman70]

Sho nuff,Mike. I have a few builds that had imperfections open up while working. Just filled with appropriate stuff and color, most of em ya cant even see.A couple were as bad as your pic. Yep, we need to do lunch and commiserate. Heck, may better  go somewhere alkiehol is served. Yehaaa!!

[Mike Brooks]

That will probably be pretty near disappeared when you're done. If it isn't PM me or call me and I'll tell you how to fix it.

[ron w]

that looks like it might just disappear. if not completely gone, I usually just fill the remaining crater with died acra-glass or some quick epoxy and continue on.
 

[Stoner creek]

That will probably be pretty near disappeared when you're done. If it isn't PM me or call me and I'll tell you how to fix it.

Hopefully Mike will bring it to Knoxville this weekend.

[Mike Lyons]

I’m going to try to make it.  Kids have a Volleyball match in Louisville and T Ball game in Ashland.  Every time I figure something out,  it falls apart.

[E.vonAschwege]

Hey Mike - With respect to others who have already chimed in, I would advise against sawdust and glue, it will stick out when you're finished. Even for small gaps in inletting, it's best to glue in additional slivers of wood than to use sawdust.  If you get it all shaped to size and the mark is still there, either leave it be (it's cool character), or make a plug with matching grain and fill it - we're only talking maybe 1/8"-3/16" deep at most.  The plug will accept stain much better, and it's a common 18th-19th century repair too.  Sorry I couldn't get a print to you, looks like you made do 
-Eric

[smokinbuck]

I've got a rifle with worm holes in several places in the forearm. These showed up prior to finishing and I was asked about filling them in. I chose to leave them alone and just ran the finish into and over the elongated worm holes and I think it looks great. I get a lot of positive comments about it.
Mark

[Mike Lyons]

Thank you all for the advice. 

[ron w]

Hey Mike - With respect to others who have already chimed in, I would advise against sawdust and glue, it will stick out when you're finished. Even for small gaps in inletting, it's best to glue in additional slivers of wood than to use sawdust.  If you get it all shaped to size and the mark is still there, either leave it be (it's cool character), or make a plug with matching grain and fill it - we're only talking maybe 1/8"-3/16" deep at most.  The plug will accept stain much better, and it's a common 18th-19th century repair too.  Sorry I couldn't get a print to you, looks like you made do 
-Eric

   agree,...I don't care for sawdust and glue either. I've come to know that it doesn't take stain like the parent wood and the defect ends up sticking out like a sore thumb.  the glue seals the sawdust and makes it inert to any further coloring,.....just what you don't want.  much better off just filling it with dark stained epoxy. you can use any 5 minute epoxy for a spot like that and it won't delay your progress very much at all. you can usually mix some up apply it and work on some other area of the stock while it sets. they key is to not try to hide the defect completely, that usually ends up making it stick out,....just fill the void with an epoxy of a matching color or slightly darker and let it be there,....it won't hurt anything and if it looks fairly natural, it won't attract undue attention to itself and as long as you don't feel it on the finished surface, it will hide itself by itself.

[smallpatch]

Mike,
Like others have said...... leave it alone.  It just adds character.  Wood is organic, and perfect in its imperfections.

[Top Jaw]

If it doesn’t disappear, You might also consider staining the gun darker.  That’s what was done with this worm hole.  It is at the bottom of the grip rail on my TN rifle, which also had some aging applied, and that helps too.  It’s probably deeper than yours, but maybe in a little better spot. It was kept as is, - but with the darker stain and antiquing it is pretty inconspicuous when viewing the whole gun. 

[Mike Lyons]

Thanks again everyone. I have it profiled about as far as I can take it on that side of the stock.  I might be able to get a tad bit more, but I want to match the other side up before I go too far.  There's not much hole showing anymore and I'm starting to like it.  I think some aging will blend it in to be nearly unnoticeable.  Whatever the design looks like might turn into a name for the rifle. 

[smylee grouch]

Ah, the bleeding hole rifle.  ; 

[Marcruger]

I think I'd put black epoxy in the hole, and it would look like an inclusion.  The worm staining near the hole does not hurt the overall look to my eye.  It just gives the gun character.  You did just fine on this one.  I think it will look neat when finished, but I would fill it so it will be flush to the touch when done. 

That said, I am not normally a fan of worm holes.  If a worm ate into a rifle, it would just look like a tiny hole, not a long
"track" down the outside.  I am unsure how many builders back in the day would have used a wormy piece of wood, leaving those tracks showing.  I am thinking few.  Again, worm holes after the rifle is done would not be tracks, just a tiny hole. 

My other issues are, "Is the worm or egg still in there?", combined with "How much tunneling is unseen, and is the wood stable/strong, especially through the wrist?"

That said, I think Top Jaw's gun shown here is gorgeous, and I would be mighty happy with that one.  I am sure the owner is too. 

God bless,   Marc

[Top Jaw]

Marc - Jim Parker aka “Bama” made that TN rifle for me back in ‘03.   He has made two rifles for me, and did some extra touches on both that made them a better gun than I had anticipated.  For instance, He scrapped my store bought smaller steel patchbox and handmade the better traditional banana box on this one instead.   That’s a nice upgrade!

[ron w]

you might take a needle or probe of some kind and see if the hole goes further into the stock.  by the looks of it, I doubt it. it looks to me like typical bark inclusion. I would simply fill it with some dark stained 5 minute epoxy and carry on.  I've never had a worm or egg come out of one like that. it's small enough that it won't detract from the stock when finished. the stain color should just about make it disappear.