How to deal with embedded wood screw in a bowl

[minilathe22]

Hello everyone

A few days ago I was using a hollowing tool and heard a loud bang, on further inspection it looks like I have chipped the cutting edge of the hollowing tool. I could see something metallic so started digging with an electric drill.

There is a long wood screw still very securely stuck, I have tried to find the head of the screw from the outside but I think the screw was put in when the tree was much younger and has completely swallowed the head of the screw. I was hoping to try and remove it carefull without affecting the end product but I now don't see how I can remove it without leaving a big hole in the side.

Any suggestions?

 

[Robbo3]

Make a drill out of a piece of pipe with teeth cut or filed in the end. You will still have a hole but it will be repairable.

 

[Alpha-Dave]

Once you have removed the screw, you will be left with a hole.

A round hole filled with dowel is the least effort for the structural fix, but can look odd. These are a few options that I have tried when dealing with an unwanted hole or inclusion:

Fill it: You will never completely hide it, so making it a feature can be a good option: cut the hole out with a fret saw to the shape of a butterfly or logo; fill with coloured epoxy; fill with superglue and soft-metal (brass, copper, pewter or aluminium) shavings or powder. I have seen people put a coin into a round hole, but you would have to do this step after getting to final sanding.

Make it bigger: a couple of bowls with bark inclusions I then carved away muck more to give deep surface texture starting from the hole. This was quite successful for general use, nik-nak bowls, but much less good for soup.

I also recommend buying a £15 metal detector wand from ebay or banggood, I use mine to check any green wood that I put on the lathe or bandsaw, but haven’t found and metal since I bought it.

 

[minilathe22]

Yes I think holesaw first and then once its removed assess what I can put in the void and it still look nice.

I had not considered a metal detector for this kind of situation, thanks!

 

[Lazurus]

I would fill the hole with a cobalt blue resin then finish, makes a nice feature especially if you use a dremel or similar to make the hole look like a natural knot or void.

 

[CHJ]

'Dig' it out with whatever you have in the form of sharp pointy tools, the more ragged the resultant hole the more natural it is likely to look when filled.

Fill with coffee grounds and drip fed Thin CA adhesive, if hole deep do it in layers, if it goes all the way through just blank off one side with masking tape.

Should blend reasonably well with your bark or spalting inclusions.

 

[minilathe22]

I decided to go all the way through with the holesaw, turns out it was a long screw bent over with a piece of washing line attached which had been almost completely consumed by tree growth.

I have some iridescent paint I have been meaning to try mixed with clear epoxy, perhaps I will try that.

 

[GarF]

I also recommend buying a £15 metal detector wand from ebay or banggood, I use mine to check any green wood that I put on the lathe or bandsaw, but haven’t found and metal since I bought it.

Sounds like something I ought to give some thought. Could you give more detail about metal detectors? Is there a specific type to look for for this application? And how to you use it- is it a matter of scanning the piece once at the outset and abandoning if there is an inclusion? How deep into the piece can they detect, if only shallow would you stop and scan every half inch as you go? Theoretically with a sufficiently sensitive instrument one could triangulate the position of a metal fragment within a large section and doing so prepare a blank in such a way as to leave the metal in the waste.

 

[peter-harrison]

I'd have left it in. Part of the history!