Wood Filler Advice

[BIRD]

I have a walnut cabinet that I removed the doors and hinges. I now want to cover the holes the screws left behind. I've seen different products that you can buy to fill holes, but this is (I hope) a one time fill job. Does any one know of a shop trick to filling up holes and blending it to look good??

 

[DaveO]

Will the repair be visible or is it just to re-mount new doors/hardware?
Dave

 

[BIRD]

Unfortunately the repair job will be visable. The holes are small, less then 1/8" diameter. But it's 6 small holes on each side, 3 for the top hinge, 3 for bottom.

 

[DaveO]

You could try a commercially available filler like Famowood, in a walnut color. Yellow glue, walnut dust and a similar colored stain (if the cabinets are finished other than natural). Or any old wood filler left a little shallow and the a wax burn in stick applied over the top to get the color just right. Last thought might be to make the hole larger and plug it, then finish the plug to match. My .02, Dave

 

[Mountaincraft]

If you use the sawdust, glue, stain method listed above, stain your wood before mixing with glue.

I think plugs are uglier than wood filler for small holes. If in doubt about the color, let the filler be slightly darker. Famowood dries pretty hard, Elmers is somewhat more crumbly, but with no smell and faster drying times. Both will make slight color changes when stained (after drying). Obviously, be careful with the stain on an antique.

 

[BIRD]

Ok so if I use the glue method do i fill the holes and then add walnut dust to cover over the hole, or do I make a mix? The walnut is pretty dark so I think even though the repair work will be visable I'm hoping it wont be an eye catcher.

 

[DaveO]

Mix the dust with the glue, make it like a putty. An longer open time glue like Titebond Extend might help the mixing process.
Dave

 

[Tarhead]

How about something completely different:
Take a piece of walnut about the size of a pencil; sharpen the end of it in a pencil sharpener; stick the sharpened end in the hole with a drop of glue.

When dry, cut it off with a knife and sand it smooth. Use a Qtip and apply a matching stain and finish. Good enough for David Marks! (saw this on his show about fixing problems with wood)
Good luck!

Mark

 

[Ozzie-x]

Couple of thoughts, the sawdust & glue technique with Mountaincrafts "twists" may be the best first try. The pencil option with leave endgrain exposed adn really show up. If none of these provide satidfactory results, might consider veneering the entire edge. Pretty simple to do and would hide all the sin.
My Best
Randy O

 

[DaveO]

Mark, that is a very good idea. I have a few mis-aligned holes in a project I am working on and was going to hunt for maple dowels to fill them. But with your idea, I could take a small square section and taper the end enough to fit the hole, and not need the dowel. Thanks, and it will probably help with BIRD's problem also. Dave

 

[Mountaincraft]

I agree with Ozzie, just veneer the darn thing.

william

 

[Tarhead]

Randy/Bird,
Good point re: endgrain.

Plan B:
Use a plug cutter (I use the Veritas/Lee Valley set) on matching face grain. This will give you a short plug which will need sanding to a point instead of using a pencil sharpener. Allign the plug grain with the repair face, glue, etc.

Another idea is to use one of the wax filler crayons matched to the color, especially if the finish is dark.

Look forward to meeting on Saturday in Hillsborough!
Mark

 

[Ozzie-x]

Look forward to meeting on Saturday in Hillsborough!
Mark

Great Mark, glad you're coming and I look forward to meeting you too. I hope it's a good meeting with a good turnout and lots of people set-up with lots of tools for sale. Haven't (fully) decided if I'm going to set-up or not, it's a lot of work.