Fillers

[Aragorn]

Just suppose for a minute that you've made a piece and there's some less than perfect joint that needs a little *attention*. I know, I know, this is just a fantasy what with your L-N planes and chisels and wonderful bandsaw blades and incra fences and Leigh's and Woodrats, but just pretend... What would you guys use for filling the hairline crack errors or preparing a little tearout?
What other fillers do you use in general for defects?
How about filling grain?
And colouring? What do you use for that perfect match?

A

Of course I understand that any responses you give about making the best of a dodgey joint are based purely on hearsay and speculation...!

 

[Gill]

Hiya

What does Chris say? "In glue and dust I place my trust"? So do I. Take a small offcut of the timber, sand it and collect the dust. Then mix it with PVA adhesive and fill in those little cracks. A little light sanding and there you have it :wink: .

Yours

Gill

 

[Alf]

LOL, Aragorn. :lol:

Don't ask me. Not 'cos I don't need 'em mind you. :wink: More like anything I've ever used filler on always stands out a mile, so I'm in as much need of help as you (probably more).

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chris Knight]

The question covers a lot of ground!

Fillers for small imperfections can include shellac (melt some flakes to make a stick that you can then use later to drip into a small hole using a hot knife or simply lighting the sticking and dribbling it in), wax of various kinds (mix beeswax and carnauba in the ratio 70/30, colouring the molten wax mix with earth pigments for a range of colours or buy the Liberon kit although their waxes are too soft for my liking.

Lots of coats of finish sanded back after each coat.

Sawdust ,as Gill says, in a suitable glue - I prefer epoxy for larger cracks and if it is a very small surface crack you can sand a bit of cyanoacrylate superglue intro the crack. If using oak, some PVAs and sawdust can go black on drying - so test first.

Big holes (like knots) need big fillers like Dutchmen (pieces of wood cut to fit a suitably prepared area) or lots of epoxy or auto body filler coloured to suit.

For filling grain for a highstyle finish, I use pumice if the area is not too large (as in the French polishing method) or an oil based filler from a trade supplier like Bolloms, coloured to suit the wood. Some folk use plaster of Paris but I don't get on with that too well.

 

[Anonymous]

Hiya

What does Chris say? "In glue and dust I place my trust"? So do I. Take a small offcut of the timber, sand it and collect the dust. Then mix it with PVA adhesive and fill in those little cracks. A little light sanding and there you have it :wink: .

Yours

Gill

Hi Gill

Surely the PVA doesn't accept any finish/stain though, and so your filled line stands out??

Or am I missing something here?

I could do with a good filler that matches the colour of the wood and accepts stain/finish

Cheers

Tony

 

[Gill]

Hi Tony

I couldn't comment on how it takes stain because I don't stain my pieces anyway - I'm more of a marquetarian than a general woodworker so the last thing I want is to have my work stained :shock: ! It strikes me that if a more general woodworker is looking for a filler to match the colour of their work, then staining wouldn't be on the agenda for them either.

Perhaps I find this technique successful because I tend to only fill small areas. Once I've filled a gap, I then press as much loose sawdust as possible over the top of the picture as possible so that the dust to glue ratio is as high as possible. Of course, if there are other veneers with contrasting colours or open pores near to the gap (as there usually are) then I apply sanding sealer to them beforehand so that the dust doesn't discolour them.

When it comes to finish, I've never had a problem. Most of my stuff gets a wax finish or (gulp!) varnish and neither seems to suffer.

Yours

Gill