Oak Floor Filler

[Jim Young]

I'll be putting down the oak flooring this break. My wife wanted that cottagy look so we bought what is called commercial oak. This is made of 4" wide boards which had knots and worm holes and other imperfection. I intend to finish the floor with natural color Velvit Oil only, all to help in the "look". Now I need something to fill larger voids that won't look odd and pop out later. Does anyone have suggestions to a filler that I can sand and will fit in with the oil? TIA

[Paul Downes]

Jim, My wife 'started' to refinish a pine floor in one of our kids rooms this past October. There were mouse holes, 1/4" gaps between boards, and burn marks from when the house was heated by room stoves. Basicly over a hundred yrs. of wear and tear. After I sanded for a long.....................time, I decided that the antique look would be just fine. The first question I would ask is what colour stain, if any, you plan to use. We ended up using a dark stain after going over the whole floor with a paste wood filler we bought at the big box store, and resanding the whole mess. I then used minwax markers to darken the filled areas to blend them in.(before staining) Then went with 3 coats of oil based polyurethane, (high gloss)sanded between coats. The high gloss seems to repel inquiring eyes as, so far, everyone who has looked at it has liked the results. You can use those markers to "create" knots and whatever to disguise the wood filler if it doesn't match real well. I would certainly experiment with some scrap before doing the whole floor.

[Bob Lasley]

Jim,

I would consider using epoxy. You can color it to suit your tastes. For filling knots, etc. I like to use black. I have used oil based finishes over it with no problems. The epoxy should stay put and wear well. It also sands easily enough.

Bob

[Steve Inniss]

Jim, Unless the floor is too big, or there are just too many holes and defects to bear, I would use real wood. Use a combination of tapered plugs and dutchmen depending on need. I have never been happy with filler, it just never looks right. The use of plugs and dutchmen looks incredible on a ''cottage" floor.
Steve

[Jim Young]

What is a dutchman? Is that one of those bow tie patches?

[Chris Padilla]

What is a dutchman? Is that one of those bow tie patches?

Yes.

I just used Velvit Oil on a maple shelf. Wet sanding with it provides a wonderful finish. Smooth, smooth, smooth--velvity, perhaps? :) Have you used Velvit Oil before?

I have yet to try it on such an open-grained wood like oak but I bet it helps to even out the appearance although it certainly won't fill large voids.

I'd suggest, with some leftover oak (or "before you start" oak) to put toghether a few pieces on some scrap plywood and experiment a bit with the epoxies, dutchman, and Velvit Oil and see what you think.

Mixing some varnish with sawdust to create your own putty is another tip and the Velvit Oil does it fine, too. You could even mix in sawdust with the epoxy. The main problem with filler is they have no grain and can tend to stick out.

I like the idea of using real wood to fill voids...especially the larger ones and you can then putty/epoxy the smaller ones.

Chris

[Barbara Gill]

What is a dutchman? Is that one of those bow tie patches?


A dutchman is a wood patch. We used them to fill either large voids in black locust or a few knot holes in pine. If we could have just cut out the bad part of the flooring we would have however wood was getting short. For the dutchman in the pine, we used black walnut because the color was close to the missing knot. In the black locust, I found a scrap of wood with a similar grain pattern and made a custom fit patch. One is the shape of Virginia. :-) I spent a fair amount of time dry fitting the patch and then glued it in with Tightbond II. You can use some waxed paper under a weighted board to hold the patch down for a good bond. If the patch is a little proud of the surface of the board, that is good. When it is sanded carefully with a ROS you can bring it right down for a great fit. Be sure to get all the glue off of the board so the Velvit Oil will penetrate correctly.

[Steve Inniss]

What is a dutchman? Is that one of those bow tie patches?
As you see by other responses, it is. You can buy a brass ring and bit set for your router that makes the process pretty easy. It will follow the inside edge of any template you make, to cut the piece to fit, and to cut the "hole" in your floor. If you do a trial piece or two, you'll be amazed at the precision.
That way you'll have an awesome floor and another useful tool. Great for antique furnitue repair.
Here's a sample on pine.

Steve

[Barbara Gill]

As you see by other responses, it is. You can buy a brass ring and bit set for your router that makes the process pretty easy. It will follow the inside edge of any template you make, to cut the piece to fit, and to cut the "hole" in your floor. If you do a trial piece or two, you'll be amazed at the precision.
That way you'll have an awesome floor and another useful tool. Great for antique furnitue repair.
Here's a sample on pine.

Steve


I guess it is a matter of what we like; everyone is different. I prefer to fill a natural void with a natural shape and blend the patch as well as I can so that it isn't obvious. Of course if you have to cut out a bad spot, you don't have much of a natural shape to go with. :-)

[Jim Young]

It so happens I have the bow tie patterns from a couple of years ago and also the bit w/coller. Never had the chance to use them. Yesterday at teh woodworking show I bought the diamond pattern. Told my wife about this fix and she liked it, actually the diamond. She also wants to use the same wood so it doesn't stand out too much. I may end up making another natural looking pattern.

Haven't use Velvit oil yet, kinda anxious to see how that works out.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Steve Inniss]

I guess it is a matter of what we like; everyone is different. I prefer to fill a natural void with a natural shape and blend the patch as well as I can so that it isn't obvious. Of course if you have to cut out a bad spot, you don't have much of a natural shape to go with. :-)
I agree.
I think it depends completely on the application. With "cottage" grade flooring or country furniture, I love the look of a perfectly fitted dutchman. On finer antiques, I use dutchmen on the underside, just to stabilize - ie. a cracked chair seat/table top. I make the repair using aged wood and then stain/polish etc. so the repair is virtually undectable.
The one thing I personally don't like is wood filler. -Steve