Hiding imperfect work

[Ken Lefkowitz]

I was wondering how everybody hides those imperfect joints, miters after the pieces are already up. Specifically in stained or natural wood projects. I'm familiar with burnishing the miters closed with a chisel handle. There must be other great tips and tricks.

[David Keller NC]

Best answer I can give is: don't. Other than burnishing a miter closed, most any other method involves putty/fill, and that's going to look worse than an open miter over time, regardless of how well the color matches initially. Same goes for nail holes - don't fill them unless the work is to be painted.

And, of course, if you're installing molding on either a case piece or crown molding across a room, the easiest way to prevent a future problem is to cope the joint. That way, expansion/contraction won't cause problems.

[glenn bradley]

I re-make the ill fitting piece if required.

[phil harold]

do it right the first time...

on larger trim these are worth thier weight in gold

http://www.miterclamp.com/

[glenn bradley]

do it right the first time...

If we could all do that, what fun would it be :D

[Ken Lefkowitz]

OK, I'm a hack. I did it wrong the first time and sealed the deal with glue and nails, so what would be the save for hacks like myself. (I cant be the only one).

[John Keeton]

Ken, like the others, the time and effort spent redoing the cut is usually far less than the time and effort trying to recover, but as you said, you are already at that point.

That said, all attempts to cure the problem should be done AFTER the first coat of finish is applied. Most of the fillers, etc. contain oil and will play havoc with getting a good finish.

Get a good filler (Timbermate is the best that I have found) that closely matches the wood in its finished state, and fill it. If you can't get a dead on match, I would go darker rather than lighter.

At this point, I don't know of any other options for you. Others may have had luck with sawdust and glue/varnish, but that hasn't worked well for me in most cases.

[Ken Lefkowitz]

Thanks John. I was thinking about softening filler stick, spreading it into the minor imperfections and coating with the clear top coat used on the rest of the molding. Does anyone think this would be a bad idea?

[Jason Beam]

I've never seen an invisible filler joint ... prophetic as that may sound. Anytime filler's been used, I've seen it. It's almost always glaringly obvious to me, too.

Personally, i would avoid filling if I can. I might go so far as to cut the joint apart before I tried filling, honestly. If, for some unearthly reason, I couldn't cut it and retry, I would start looking at completely covering the gap with real actual wood. That could mean a paper-thin plane shaving stuck in place over the gap and "feathered" back into the main part of the piece.

Does it have to be a miter? Cut the corners off completely and pop in some "rosettes" at each corner - much like window trim is done (all square cuts, no diagonals).

What about some kind of inlay? Maybe ... hmm ... why not try routing out a shallow groove across the gap - parallel with the miter cuts and glue in a solid wood inlay over it - sand/scrape flush and yer good. You can tell everyone it's the way you'd planned it all along.

We're all hacks, btw. Every one of us. And if you find someone who gets upset at that assessment, be especially wary. The only difference between one hack and another is thier profficiency at hiding their mistakes. Cutting the joint perfect is great ... but if you only ever cut perfect joints, you're not a woodworker - you're just a pattern follower. A woodworker figures out the challenges and finds creative ways to cope with them. :)

Start thinkin' outside the box ... chop some corners off, slap in an inlay ... but please, please, give all other options ample thought before you resort to filler. Ain't nobody invented a filler that matches any kinda wood, yet.

If you DO resort to filler, fill with the closest possible match to the BACKGROUND color of the grain and get out some brushes and paint on the darker colors to at least simulate the grain. BUT TRY IT ON SCRAPS FIRST - and take that scrap to full finish before you put any of it on your project - you need to see what good or bad will come of that filler in the end before you decide to use it.

I'd fill with real wood ... in as whole a state as possible, myself. :)

[Brad Wood]

I've never seen an invisible filler joint ... prophetic as that may sound. Anytime filler's been used, I've seen it. It's almost always glaringly obvious to me, too.

Personally, i would avoid filling if I can. I might go so far as to cut the joint apart before I tried filling, honestly. If, for some unearthly reason, I couldn't cut it and retry, I would start looking at completely covering the gap with real actual wood. That could mean a paper-thin plane shaving stuck in place over the gap and "feathered" back into the main part of the piece.

Does it have to be a miter? Cut the corners off completely and pop in some "rosettes" at each corner - much like window trim is done (all square cuts, no diagonals).

What about some kind of inlay? Maybe ... hmm ... why not try routing out a shallow groove across the gap - parallel with the miter cuts and glue in a solid wood inlay over it - sand/scrape flush and yer good. You can tell everyone it's the way you'd planned it all along.

We're all hacks, btw. Every one of us. And if you find someone who gets upset at that assessment, be especially wary. The only difference between one hack and another is thier profficiency at hiding their mistakes. Cutting the joint perfect is great ... but if you only ever cut perfect joints, you're not a woodworker - you're just a pattern follower. A woodworker figures out the challenges and finds creative ways to cope with them. :)

Start thinkin' outside the box ... chop some corners off, slap in an inlay ... but please, please, give all other options ample thought before you resort to filler. Ain't nobody invented a filler that matches any kinda wood, yet.

If you DO resort to filler, fill with the closest possible match to the BACKGROUND color of the grain and get out some brushes and paint on the darker colors to at least simulate the grain. BUT TRY IT ON SCRAPS FIRST - and take that scrap to full finish before you put any of it on your project - you need to see what good or bad will come of that filler in the end before you decide to use it.

I'd fill with real wood ... in as whole a state as possible, myself. :)

I appreciate some of your comments here, while not addressed to me... thank you all the same


as whole
Why do you have to resort to name calling ::D

[Jason Beam]

I appreciate some of your comments here, while not addressed to me... thank you all the same

Hey i'm just glad someone thought some of it made sense! Glad it was helpful, to boot! :D


Why do you have to resort to name calling ::D

LOL! I didn't even notice that ... :p:p:p:p

[Jim Becker]

Major issues are best handled by remaking when possible. But I also like to carefully match slivers of wood for grain and color to fill joinery imperfections. I've done this, for example, with hand-cut dovetails and done right, you cannot tell that it was cut "too generously". I really don't like using any kind of commercial filler or even the popular "sawdust and glue" fillers. They will never look like the wood, never take coloration the same and always be a reminder that filler was used. Sometimes, the gap will be less visible, frankly.

One technique I do use for something more rustic is to sometimes use coffee grounds and CA to fill a void or old nail hole when it's "necessary" to fill it for functional reasons. This is also a popular technique with turners for filling voids in bowls and hollowforms. The idea here is not to make the void disappear; rather, it's to fill it with something attractive, natural looking and sometimes, contrasting to the rest of the piece.

[jim carter]

wet both sides with water, and roll with a large screw driver. i have done it many times when the shaper was a little off.