Making your own filler from sawdust

[Gary Carter]

My first forum entry, so hoping you experts can set me on the right path.
From time to time I want to fill small blemishes or punched nails with a filler to match the timber being used.
Mixing with PVA glue was suggested to me but have found that to be useless. Have read somewhere in the past to try nitrocellulose lacquer but haven't done so yet.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in anticipation.
Gary

[Big Shed]

Why is the PVA glue useless? I have used it with success.

[Gary Carter]

Maybe its me that is useless but I found it very hard to sand back to a good finish and it didn't give a great colour match. Any tricks to your success

[Big Shed]

Maybe its me that is useless but I found it very hard to sand back to a good finish and it didn't give a great colour match. Any tricks to your success

I don't normally mix the glue and the sawdust as such. What I tend to, if possible, is put a bit of glue in the imperfection, then put the sawdust/shavings on top of that, press gently let dry, then sand. This was some of the sawdust/shaings stick out and are held by the glue. Easier to sand (use yellow-aliphatic glue such as Triton) and takes finish easier making it blend in more.

Hope that helps.

The same technique may well work with lacquer and/or sanding sealer, but I haven't tried that.

[echnidna]

sawdust is crappy, what works best is fine sander dust ( I usually mix it with 5 min epoxy)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

For larger areas, such as flooring, I use a cheap Norton branded PVA which dries clear... my usual Titebond doesn't seem to work well for this.

It's still not an ideal colour match and is easily picked by eye, but it's usually closer than any "off the shelf" filler.

[Andy Mac]

When I worked in a furniture factory we kept little jars of sanding dust from the most commonly used timbers, so we could mix it with epoxy and match the colour as close as possible. Sanding worked fine when cured.
I do use PVA on work I'm not real fussed about, but again, then finer the dust the better.

Cheers

[Wongdai]

I've been told to mix the dust with araldite. I've seen the results, it looks good, but I haven't tried it myself.

[*Kev]

I tried PVA and fine sawdust on my current build with extremely poor results. The colour of the fill looked good when I mixed and applied it but soon went almost black and stood out like the proverbial canine testicles. And, like Gary, found it hard to sand back. I think leaving the blemish would have looked better then trying to hide it.

Kev

[Tex B]

I have mixed sawdust with araldite to good effect, as long as the blemish is not too big.

As the others have said, the finer the dust, the better the result.

Tex

[powderpost]

I use CA adhesive and shavings. Apply some glue to the hole and press some shavings into the hole. Sand back and repeat if necessary. Finish off with more glue and apply coarse saw dust. Sometimes a lighter coloured saw dust is better as the glue will darken the colour. Sometimes a darker saw dust will match a blemish or maybe a small knot. Good move to wear a rubber glove when pressing the shavings into the glue. Last time I did this I got a large severe blister from the heat the glue develops in large repairs. By the way I use Loctite 401, it sets quickly.
Jim

[Johncs]

This is basically my question. The bit that's unanswered is what effect does this have on finish?

My planned finish on some Tassie Oak is Rustins Danish Oil, no stain or sealer.

Sanding dust is easy. To hand I have PVA, Titebond, Titebond III. I gather PVA stuffs up staining (and sanding, but in my case probably not enough to bother me). If I don't have Araldite (if I have, it's old), it's easy enough to get some.

The scratch of immediate concern is about .09 mm deep - maybe a little more, it's not deep enough to get a reliable reading from my digital calliper.

[Johncs]

The scratch of immediate concern is about .09 mm deep - maybe a little more, it's not deep enough to get a reliable reading from my digital calliper.

That should say the scratch isn't wide enough to get a reliable reading. The pointy end of the calliper catches on the sides.

[rrich]

I've used sanding flour to make filler that works reasonably well. The trick is that you have to make the filler keeping in mind the final finish.

I was fuming some red oak and at the same time I also fumed the flour. (Ammonia fumes) The final finish was to be a curing oil. (Minwax Antique Oil Finish) After fuming I mixed the sanding flour and the oil finish into a thick paste, Then pushed the mixture into the imperfections. I'll sand a bit in a few days after the finish has cured and then just do the oil finish as normal.

[Superbunny]

The best result I've had is sanding dust mixed with sanding sealer. It stands out a little when dry but blends in well when sanded. As I use sanding sealer before I apply any final sand and finish, it does a good job and they both blend in well. I also tried mixing epoxy but it still was easy to spot and it doesn't take the finish along with the rest of the wood.

SB