Plugging hammer holes

[Phillip Ford]

>There seem to be several proponents of plugging capstan holes with epoxy 
>mixed with microlite filler.  How do you feel about using this mixture for 
>plugging holes drilled through hammer moldings?
>
>Phil Ford

Since I got no responses on this I had to boldly go where no man has gone 
before.  I'm happy to report that I survived the experience and can share 
it with you.  I taped several hammer heads together with the tape going 
across the back face of the hammer molding to cover the holes and to hold 
the hammers together and make them easier to handle.  I supported the tail 
ends of the groups of larger hammers on sticks so that they would be 
level.  I mixed some epoxy with microlite filler to the consistency of 
honey, put it in a syringe, and injected it into the holes.  After the 
epoxy had settled a little I came back with the syringe and topped each one 
off so that there was a convex bump of epoxy over each hole.  When the 
epoxy was set I ran over each group of hammers with a sanding block to 
remove the bumps.  The epoxy gave a nice void free fill, drilled easily 
without causing the bit to wander, and the epoxy with microlite (no 
additional coloring added) gave a nice match to the maple moldings.  More 
pleasant and less time consuming than using dowels IMO.

Phil Ford