Wood Filler

OK, I tried a couple things last night and wasn’t thrilled. I squirted some filler into a couple sandwich baggies. In one bag I put some saw dust from the project piece and a little clear glue. Mashed it up good. In the other, I put some dark walnut poly and mashed it up. Neither came out matching well enough that I’m happy, but they both are better than doing nothing. Any mixing recipes out there?

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Well, I’ve hidden a couple of bad mitres and some tearout on a crosscut veneer with LePage Plastic wood. Suprisingly enough, as long as the thing you are trying to hide is along an edge or a seam, it takes color pretty well. It dries fast and sands really easy. It’s cheap so a test is really no trouble. I know I’ve probably broken every cardinal rule out there, but you can give it a try. I’ve had to use it on three projects due to little gafs and you can’t tell unless you go looking specifically for it. Don’t be alarmed that it’s greenish baby poop yellow. It’s just what I’ve used with some success…but, ssshhhhhhh, don’t tell anyone else.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I do not like to use filler either Jeff, but as you say sometimes it is a necessity. I have used the tinted wood filler with some success on the joint areas, nail heads, and a few other items. No, it is not a perfect match, but it does do well.

I have not tried it before, but some people suggest using sawdust and glue. You make a paste, and then fill in the spot with this mixture. They say it works pretty well.

I have been using Titebond III glue for the last few months. It has wood particles in it, that are supposed to take stain. It does seem to work well, as long as you do your proper cleanup. Even then, it does somewhat blend in to the work. Not at noticeable as the old yellow glue.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Thanks Bill, I had some similar ideas. I did the sawdust, filler, and glue recipe and it was better than what I started with, but left much to be desired. I think the glue makes it tough to finish even. The glue takes stain different from the blended sawdust and filler.

I saw a tip about using filler a while back. Can’t remember the source. They used the closest match of filler to the wood. They tinted it with dyes in some cases to get it very close. After it dried and they sanded it smooth, they went back and drew the grain on the patch to match the grain on the piece. You still can see its a plug if you are looking for it, but you would not notice it if you didn’t know it was there.

I started a mixture of filler and dark walnut danish oil a couple nights ago. I put them both in a baggy and mix it up. When it is all absorbed, I go another round. After three nights of this, it is actually darkening better and better.

-- Jeff, South Carolina