Nail Putty Colour

[tubes82]

Hi,

We are sanding and polishing our floorboards but are having trouble getting the nail putty colour right. So we went to bunnings and the guy said to mix some dust from the floor boards into the nail putty with linseed oil.

Can anyone help with what to buy and how to mix this in and get the correct colour?

[Dave50]

what I do is to get the sawdust and mix it together with aquadhere (the glue I use for furniture construction) if you got a small container and mixed your dust with it then the match will be pretty good!

[tubes82]

What ratio of saw dust should i add? I also brought a small tub of timber mate water based wood filler. Can i use this or should i get some aquadhere. I am new to this so very basic easy to follow instructions would help lol

[Lignum]

If you try to match the colour the same as the floorboards, then when you oil or varnish them, the fillings become “light” colour dots and look terrible. Best to use filler that is 4 or 5 times darker, then it looks like natural feature.

[Dave50]

yep you could make a feature out of the nails, the way I do it is mix until it is stiff enough to place into holes, there is no measurements, just keep mixing till it looks "right"

[rtfarty]

As a painter & decorator with 40+ years in the trade I still find the best coloured filler is stained linseed oil putty.
The putty is stained using various methods, but I use artist oil colours in tubes.
The method is to mix 3 or 4 main colours and then intermix some of those colours together in different proportions to get a pallette of colours that cover the colours in the timber.
The putty should be mixed on a piece of glass so the oil isnt sucked out into a porous surface and if the mixture is too sticky whiting (calcium carbonate) can be mixed in to stiffen the mixture up.
If the colours are too strong they can be let down by mixing in untinted putty.
The usual colours mixed are burnt umber (brown) burnt sienna (reddy brown) yellow ochre (earthy yellow) and black.
The timber must have a coat of sealer so that you can match the colour properly and so that the oil in the putty dosn't soak out into the timber and stain it or dry out too quickly.
The putty should be applied with a putty knife ( the clip point stye rather than the flat american style is best) and pressed in and finished with with the knife, not a finger or sandpaper.
If the putty is left over night before finishing it will form a protective skin so it will not be affected by brushing etc. and it will slowly dry out under what ever is used as a finish.
Putty cannot be used as a filler for large holes as it remains soft too long but it is ideal for joints, cracks and nail holes.<!-- google_ad_section_end -->