Paste Wood Filler

i still haven’t found a commercial filler that I like better than sawdust and glue. On my recently posted project, the Guit-chair, there were several rotted out pieces that needed filled. The most recommended filler was a latex stainable filler that went on very nicely. About the consistency of peanut butter and colored for red oak, I was optimistic. I’m glad I tried it on a scrap piece that I scraped some gouges in because the filler took the stain and became almost black.

Instead, I captured some super fine dust, like wood flour fine, from the bag on my RO sander from sanding the actual wood I would be filling. I mixed in some TB and a little extra water to make it into a nice putty like cookie dough. It wasn’t hard to sand at all. There were a couple deep spots that needed a second application, but the end result took stain perfectly. I did all the filling and sanding before assembly.

If I was doing a fancy table and wanted a glass smooth top, I’d use some filler for sure, but build up the finish on the top and then wet sand it and polish.

-- Matt CueBall Rosendaul. I don't think I've ever had a cup of coffee that didn't have cat hair or sawdust in it.

If you are looking to fill the grain on an open pored wood, Timbermate is the most user friendly product I have used. It comes in a large variety of wood matched colors.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

I would use it before assembly. You don’t have to mess with corners.
I would dye or stain after use won’t have to worry about color match.

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

Interesting topic.

A couple of days ago I was working on a small item out of mahogany and wondered about some type of home made wood filler just to fill the wood pores. I thought about mixing some talc powder with some wood stain. I didn’t do it though. Any thoughts about some on the spot mix-your-own filler recipes?

-- Always remember: It is a mathematical certainty that half the people in this country are below average in intelligence!

I’ve always heard using wood glue is not a good idea because of issues when staining.

I’ve seen some professional guys fill knots and large defects in slabs use epoxy with dyes.
Came out pretty awesome. That might be something to experiment with.

I’m thinking some restoration references would have some good info.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

+1 for Matt CueBall Rosendaul

Use the saw dust from your project plus some glue and you’ll

have a nice filler. :)

Practice on some off fall first.

More than one way to do it: I use white glue and sanding powder every day as crack filler in Cedar, Oak, maple and Walnut. I do not stain anything but shellac or lacquer covers it OK. If not sanded enough after applying it will show as a color change as finish is applied. I have made some projects that do not allow me to get to any squeeze-out to sand away so I use Titebond cold hide glue there. It dries clear and gloss finish does not discolor over it. Another way to fill cracks is to mix the sanding powder from your orbital sander with shellac and apply with a credit card used as a squeegee. This method avoids any discoloring if some of it is missed when sanding.

-- "You may have your PHD but I have my GED and my DD 214"

Paste wood filler is used primarily to fill the pores in open grain wood (such as oak) before the finish.It will take stain. You don’t have to use as many coats of finish to fill the pores and get a smooth finish. You can use it after the stain and get anaccent showing the pores if desired. It really doesn’t do a good job filling defects in the wood. It can be used for that. It is normally applied with a brush or rag cross grain and rubbed off almost a son as appllied again crossgrain. lWiping with the grain tends to wipe it out of the very pores you are trying to fill. Once it is dry sand and stain or apply your finish of choice. As gfadvm says timbermate is a very good product and easy to use. There are other brand out there.

-- Bruce, Boise, ID

Lots of confusion here. Paste wood filler is used to fill the grain of open grain woods as described by Bruce in Boise. Wood filler is used to fill cracks, holes, blemishes, etc. These are two different products.

-- Roger M, Aiken, SC