Looking for a walnut filler

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi , Im making a round walnut inlay border into a rock maple table top. The C&C machine cut the joints off just a bit on a few of the pieces ( theres 9). Im afraid if I sand the edges where they meet by too much that when I insert the last piece it will be an 1/8th short, So im sanding lightly and leaving a small gap, maybe 32nd in the shape of a V down to nothing. The inlay is 3 inch across.
My question is, I need a dark brown filler?
I have the elmers walnut, its too light.Im afraid with finish over it, its going to really show.
I could mix fine sanding dust with glue? Does this method work well? If so should I find a really dark piece to get some dust from since glue is lighter in color?

Or is there something I can buy at a rockler/woodcraft store. I dont have time to order anything.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Craig,

I have used the fine dust with wood filler several times with varying results. You can vary the color a bit by how fine of dust you use and the type of glue you mix it with. You may even be able to mix it with a bit of your finishing material instead of glue to make up the putty. In my expirience the dust wood filler usually ends up darker than the wood it is made from and does not accept stain very well. The best I can tell you if you use that method is to do some sample pieces with the finish you are going to apply to see if the results are acceptable to you.

You can find a wide selection of different colored fillers at the big box stores and/or rockler. Again, however, I would recommend doing some test samples with your chosen finish to check the color match.

Lastly, could you cut another sliver of veneer or wood to fill in the gap? Depending on grain orientation you may be able to make an invisable "patch".

[Craig D Peltier]

Craig,

I have used the fine dust with wood filler several times with varying results. You can vary the color a bit by how fine of dust you use and the type of glue you mix it with. You may even be able to mix it with a bit of your finishing material instead of glue to make up the putty. In my expirience the dust wood filler usually ends up darker than the wood it is made from and does not accept stain very well. The best I can tell you if you use that method is to do some sample pieces with the finish you are going to apply to see if the results are acceptable to you.

You can find a wide selection of different colored fillers at the big box stores and/or rockler. Again, however, I would recommend doing some test samples with your chosen finish to check the color match.

Lastly, could you cut another sliver of veneer or wood to fill in the gap? Depending on grain orientation you may be able to make an invisable "patch".

I have used the dust once as well on oak. It worked OK. Dont remember how it finished. I couldnt cut another sliver, IMO it would show up.

Im thinking of using elmers ebony wood filler an elmers walnut wood filler and mixing.

[Rob Cunningham]

Craig,
I've mixed sanding dust from my finish sander with shellac to make filler. It seemed to work pretty well. Test it on some scrap first to make sure you like the results.

[Todd Crawford]

Mix the dust with your sealer - I would go with Zinser seal coat. Works great!