Darkening Filler

[HappyHammer]

I know you can buy different colours of filler but if I happened to need some and couldn't get to the shop (Wife sometimes has the car) but have a lighter shade than the wood I'm filling anyone know what can be used to darken it without affecting it's original usefulness?

HH.

[zitan]

Is it grain filler?

I always use crushed charcoal to darken/blacken grain fillers for dark/red hardwoods like walnut or mahogany. Some of the store bought fillers like cabots come in somewhat silly colours, especially the "mahogany" - looks more like PA-10 to me!

Good thing about charcoal is that it will always be black. I don't trust dye stains since I've seen a lot of faded fillers on restoration work.

Make sure the charcoal is VERY finely crushed, to a cornflour like consistency. If you only need a small amount of filler and have some patience, lamp black also works. Hold some sort of glass object in the flame of a candle then scrape the black into the filler. You can also just burn a piece of pine and scrape the soft powdery carbon into the filler. A small amount goes a long way. Needless to say, this is how black paint and India [Chinese!] ink is made.

[Salty]

Happy,
have you tried Black Japan - Feast Watson make a good brew for adding to finishes to make an "antique finish" . I have a feeling this could work well in a filler too!

[Old Harry]

Can you use a charcoal to fill cracks, gaps etc in old timber? If so how do you apply it? Is it mixed with PVA?

[zitan]

Haven't tried charcoal for that Old Harry. It's an idea worth experimenting but PVA isn't known for its gap filling properties. Putty is nothing more than linseed oil and chalk. Black putty?
I use charcoal for colouring and rubbing out purposes because it costs nothing and is permanent.

Anyone out there experienced with charcoal bluing?