anyone use black wood filler?

[Reggie Lamothe]

I'm building a barn door out of old reclaimed wood has some bug holes and I think it would be neat looking to use a black filler on them for contrast. Do you stain before using it? poly? I've always tried to blend my filler with the wood so I'm at a loss here

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have never used black, but what kind of wood filler are you using? I have only used wood filler before applying finish. If I finished first, then I would have finish (poly, or what ever) in the hole to finish, and I would expect that to keep the filler from adhering and staying in place.

[Daniel Smith]

With contrasting fillers, I typically put down a coat of shellac first. It helps prevent the filler from staining the wood.

[Bradley Gray]

I use clear 5 minute epoxy after 2 clear coats - usually poly

[Tom Bain]

I just read an article (I think it is in the current issue of Fine Woodworking) about using charcoal (crushed up) to make dark filler that looks like pitch. I've never tried it, but it sounded kind of cool.

[Bill McNiel]

West Systems epoxy with a couple of drops of black Transtint dye.

[Jim Finn]

I just bought some black, chalk line, chalk on line. Mixed it with glue and applied to the void.

[marty fretheim]

West Systems epoxy with a couple of drops of black Transtint dye.

I agree with Bill, done this and works great.

[Pat Barry]

Are the bugs gone?

[glenn bradley]

I'm another dye and epoxy guy.

371186

[Jim Tobias]

I've used epoxy with Transtint dye before on larger gaps/holes. I also use Timbermate black wood filler. It fills well, dries quick and sands off easily. Faster fix than epoxy (especially the sanding part).

Jim

[peter Joseph]

Ive found that ebony analine dyes effect the epoxy negatively in that it takes longer to cure. I simply scrape black charcoal from an arts and craft store and mix it into the epoxy with no ill effects.

[Wayne Lomman]

Whichever filler used, seal the timber first as Daniel said. Do this with any contrasting filler. It saves a lot of grief.

Also, be wary of adding random solvents to epoxy. It does affect curing and durability. An inert pigment is best if going down this track. Cheers

[Jim Andrew]

I have been using bondo for wood filler, as it is a permanent fix. Have not found a good dye, but just sand it flat, and before finishing apply some paint or color with a sharpie. Found that Walmart sells it by the gallon.

[Tim Bueler]

+1 on bondo and chalkline chalk. I've used bondo with black chalkline chalk to do this. I also mixed in blue and red chalks to help color match streaks on a big blue pine, live edge bar top for a customer.

[Bill Adamsen]

+1 on the epoxy and black powder approach. I use graphite powder but that is likely about the same as the charcoal ... which is a great idea I'm going to have to try. Also I like the idea of using shellac to protect the surrounding wood though I haven't done that. In a prior post a few years ago Peter Quinn suggested (hope I'm paraphrasing this correctly) that just putting clear epoxy into a imperfection worked fine since the "depth" trapped light and gave the appearance of being dark. My only caution would be that some waterborne finishes don't adhere well to epoxy. So test your finish.