Food safe wood filler

[Paul Williams]

Are any of the commercial wood fillers considered food safe? How about sawdust or coffee grounds and epoxy?

[John Keeton]

Paul, if you intend on applying a finish, then do you need to worry about the filler? If not, then shellac is food safe, so one could use that as the “glue” to bond sawdust or coffee grounds.

[Paul Williams]

Thanks John, the problem is on my son's burtcherblock counter top where some small knots came out. Since it is a flat surface there will be no side force on the repair so shellac is probably strong enough to hold. Now I need to find some sorta grey colored sawdust.

[John Keeton]

To replace knots, Paul, I would go with coffee grounds. They look very much like knots when dressed flush.

[Dave Mount]

Epoxy is considered food safe for commercial kitchens by health inspectors in our county. +1 on ground coffee for filling knots. Use a range of particle sizes for a more natural look.

[bob pfohler]

Interesting, I have used dyes and epoxy to fill knot holes in turnings but never coffee grounds.