Stainaable wood filler - Help Please!!!

[BOB OLINGER]

Sorry if this is an old question and been asked before. But, does anyone have any good recommendations for a good stainable wood filler? I'm currently working a lot of red oak and want to save some pieces, but I need a stainable wood filler where the patch won't stand out like a sore thumb. I've got some Minwax filler (says it's stainable) in the works as at trial. Over the years, I've tried several fillers but none to my liking. There has to be better ones that I'm not aware of. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[David Christopher]

Bob, Ive never had good luck with staining wood filler but some of the already colored fillers have worked pretty good.....most of the time I use sanding dust and wood glue

[Matt Tawes]

I typically use water based filler and tint it lightly before applying with water base stain/transtint then topcoat with tinted water base poly, lacquer or shellac if needed.
A contractor told me about this stuff (a variety or fillers, sticks, burn in or epoxy are listed) by Mohawk the other day http://magicwoodrepair.com/
Don't know anything about it personally but looks interesting.

[bill mullin]

Have you tried Famowood? Comes in several colors and stains pretty well, IMO.

[Eiji Fuller]

I have had the best luck with making nail holes invisible with fast cap hard wax kit. Apply it after all the finish is done and buff.

[David DeCristoforo]

Staining filler is always tricky. "Stainable" fillers are something of a myth. Yes, they will "take" stain but rarely if ever the same as the surrounding wood. Variations in the tones of the wood compound the problem because the filler will always end up the same color regardless of the tone of the wood around it. On my first real "high end" job, there was a finishing crew and they "forbid" us carpenters from puttying any nail holes. They would leave the holes until they had brought the wood to it's final color. Sometimes this involved staining, sometimes not. But they would not fill any nail holes until they had applied the first "top coat". Then they would mix color putty, either by combining pre-colored putty or by using universal tints until the color was "just right". Typically, they ended up with at least several different balls of putty, each one a slightly different tone. In this manner, they were able to get the fillers so close to the color of the wood that the filled holes were virtually undetectable, even on close inspection. Only then would they apply the final top coats.

I adopted this procedure in my own work and the first time I did it, I found that I had to force myself to start applying finish to work that had "open" nail holes. But the result was much better that any result I ever got by attempting to fill the holes before I applied the stain and/or finish and the "hassle" of mixing putty soon became almost "fun" and was not that difficult to "master".

[BOB OLINGER]

Thanks for all the answers. I guess I should elaborate a little. My challenge is a little larger than nail holes although I appreciate all the comments on filling nail holes. I'm making plantation shutters. I've milled a lot of shutter slats (several hundred) in my Shop Fox moulder. As all know, red oak is hard and coarse, ending up in quite a few chip outs as I call them. After all the work to get to a slat, it kills me to through away a slat with all the work into it because of a little chip out or nick. So, I'd like to salvage some of those slats for shutters that will be hung in areas of less traffic (less noticeable). So, that is my challenge. Thanks, again.

[BOB OLINGER]

David,

I've used sawdust and glue in the past. I used the yellow wood glue. Do you have better success with any particular glue? Thanks.

[Eiji Fuller]

I would sand out the chip out because filler is just plain ugly.

[Jason White]

Take some of your oak sawdust and mix it with stainable wood glue.

Jason



Sorry if this is an old question and been asked before. But, does anyone have any good recommendations for a good stainable wood filler? I'm currently working a lot of red oak and want to save some pieces, but I need a stainable wood filler where the patch won't stand out like a sore thumb. I've got some Minwax filler (says it's stainable) in the works as at trial. Over the years, I've tried several fillers but none to my liking. There has to be better ones that I'm not aware of. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[glenn bradley]

I'm in the "never gotten anything close to acceptable" camp. Probably a lack of skill on my part. I now just re-make failed parts and ease the "lost effort" pain with the "superior end product" rewards. I then try to come up with inventive ways to use the scraps; candle holders, coasters, picture frames and so forth. Folks like little gifts and I feel better about the boo-boo too.

[Joe Jensen]

Your best bet is to finish a few samples with the final finish system, stain and top coat. Then using the filler system you like, custom mix filler to best match the finish work. Once close, fill some scraps, and finish again to see how it looks. In my experience, a little darker is always better than lighter. Also, for a critical job I'll use oil based paints under the finish coat to match the grain pattern as well.

My favorite filler is solvent based Famowood.

[Bill White]

Famowood or glue/sawdust. I have a vendetta in process with Min Wax. I just can't seem to achieve the results with that stuff. :confused:
Bill

[David Perata]

I agree with David. Puttying after the fact works far better than staining the putty. Minwax and others have lines of colored putties. You will have to blend them but once you get the color right it's a snap to fill the holes and make them disappear.

[Paul Murphy]

I have not tried all of these methods or products, but have kept them in mind for possible future needs.
Some options:
1) Sand some of the same red oak wood scraps, and mix the dust with liquid hide glue. You will be close to the correct color, and hide glue is said to accept stain fairly well.
2) Famowood Filler (red oak, available in water based, and also in solvent based) is pretty good, although you will probably have to stain the repair, or tint the filler. I seem to have better luck with tinting the filler than with staining the patch.

I was interested to read the post by David DeCristoforo, as matching any repair to wood has always been difficult for me. Thanks David for posting that.

[Neal Clayton]

another thing to consider, is film building finishes blend fillers in much better than stains.

you can use whatever filler you like below garnet/amber shellac, for instance, and the shellac will make it uniform eventually.