homemade wood putty

[deacon]

For a wood putty that always matches your wood color, mix some wood glue with sawdust chip from the wood you are patching. when you sand it, it will match the wood very closely.

[Walnut45]

I sometimes take that one step further in that I stain the sawdust before I mix it with the glue. I have recently been using Titebond's liquid hide glue for this and like the results. It's clearer to begin with and you can judge the final color a little easier.

[sparky1945]

I have used Testers model glue and have also had success. The glue is clear and takes stain.

[zenophus]

From deacon:
"For a wood putty that always matches your wood color, mix some wood glue with sawdust chip from the wood you are patching. when you sand it, it will match the wood very closely."

Why on earth did I not think of this before! Duh!!

I could never match the bloodwood trim I was using but this most excellent advice saved the other half of the project. I grabbed some sawdust from the DC bag after planing down the boards, mixed it up and PRESTO!!

Thanks deacon!

Quote from my website:

"Detail of the corner joint. I picked up a tip from the Ridgid Woodworkers Forum that said to mix fine sawdust from your wood with glue and use it to fill holes or imperfections. It worked great!!"

http://www.blackcatwood.com/Bookcase.html

[BHD]

If you use glue, you may end up sealing the wood and may blotch the wood depending on the finish you use, as the glue will not take stain or penetrating finishes, especially if you putty before finishing.

Before using wood glue on that one of a kind project, test it out on some scrap and the finish your wanting to use and see if it has the desired effect, or no ill effects.


I have used linseed oil when sanding that basically made a past filler, but you want to make use you cover the entire surface as oils are usually penetrating and will darken the wood some,

Then most of the time I usually use any putties or fillers after the staining and after the first coat of finish was applied as not to have the blotching or problems with the finish using a putty that would match the finished project, not the raw wood.