malibu406

Thought I would share a picture and the method I used to repair a crack in a 69 wood grain steerin wheel.

I did not want to use the putty type epoxies because I was not going to sand it like the suggest.

I cleaned the crack out with 120 grit sandpaper and removed the residue with soapy water.

I know carbon black is used to dope adhesives and plastics. So, I got a piece "amber" out of the wood burner (and allowed it to cool of course) as shown in the photo.

I used the edge of a sharp knife to scrape very fine particles (dust). I mixed a two part semi liquid epoxy made by hardman and added small amounts of carbon until I had dark, yet slightly translucent mixture. I chose the hardman epoxy because it is not super hard when cured and may better accomodate expansion and contraction.

Using a popsicle stick and tooth picks, I filled the crack with the epoxy until it was slightly above the surface of the wheel. Then finished it with some light passes with 220 on the epoxy. Finished off the area with 600 and 1500 paper. All I have to do is some hand polishing to finish.

The attached photo shows where the crack was next to the spoke and the materials used.

These wheels are very expensive when perfect. I think I turned a one crack $150 wheel into a nice looking piece.

Hope this helps someone.

Olds64

You mean you used burnt wood or coal as a pigment for the epoxy? Whatever you did it looks good!

citcapp

Neat creative fix. This is what makes this site great. Thanks for the idea

malibu406

I used burnt wood that I picked up from the ash pan. Extremely light, basically all carbon. It was late when I wrote it and I could have presented it better.

What I really wanted to do was tint it brown with a hint of black. I probably should have waited. Here were some other thoughts I was going to do.

Since the adhesive is epoxy based, I was going to tint it with a couple drops of epoxy brown and black paint after the two part epoxy was fully mixed. I was just going to swirl the paint into the adhesive and to try and give it a wood grain look.

Also, I forgot, but I had planned on first using a torch on wood just enough to brown it. Then I was going to scrap off the dark brown and mix the it in with the epoxy paste to establish the color. Then, I was going to cut in a little of the black carbon.

I am still going to try some of these to see how they turn out. Since the Hardman epoxy has a slight yellow or amber appearence, it does not take much to color it.

If someone else tries it, I would appreciate feedback.

wmachine

Thanks for sharing your magic with us. My wife is going to be attempting a wood wheel fix in the future and this looks great!

Lady72nRob71

EXCELLENT job! The black blends in with the wood very well - I think i would stop there.
I never would have thought of the carbon powder to color. Paint might have changed the chemical properties of the glue to where it might not harden or something.

Jamesbo

Very inventive

I think we've got another Richard on our hands.