Using Crayola Crayons as putty fill stick ?

[Marc Jeske]

In a pinch, anyone do that for like 18 ga brad holes?

No.. I'm not too cheap to buy a Mohawk or whatever stick, the problem is availability and tryin to guess color over interweb.

I do happen to have a Crayola that in test matches exactly.

My only concern is maybe lower melting point.. don't want to start dripping if in a Texas summer garage for a day or two.

Secondly - It seems Mohawk sticks (the basic rub on ones, not the melting ones) can be overcoated w Nitro Laquer.. Am I correct?

So I can stain, then fill holes w the stick, THEN spray sealer nd topcoats?

I have in past used sticks AFTER lacquer, but seems I read I can overcoat.

What is the better method?

Thank you, Marc

[Lee Schierer]

I think crayons have a high wax content, which might dissolve if you coat it with a solvent based finish. If the piece will get direct sunlight as you noted, the crayon may melt and run out of the hole or might saturate the surrounding wood with a stain. You can make your own custom color wood filler by mixing sawdust, preferably from the same wood your project is made from, with some stain to match and then mixing with wood glue to make a thick paste.

[Marc Jeske]

As said above, I was thinking the Crayon may melt at lower temp than purpose made filling sticks.

I took a Minwax Blend-Fill pencil, and a Crayola crayon.. Taped them together w the points lining up flush.. Heated w Blow dryer to see if one melts much different than the other.

Result - NO noticeable difference.

Experimented rubbing into brad holes (in dark mahogany stained and lacquered Pine) a number of colors from a big Crayola set till I found two that beautifully matched my different grains stain absorption.

Easy peasy w/o having to guess and order a dozen Mohawk sticks.

Notice - I did do brad filling after ALL coats of Lacquer, not in between (As Mohawk says you can do with theirs)

I anticipate Crayon can be overcoated as Mohawk's, have not tried a test yet... but for me, applying the filler stick after alll coats is fine.

Hmmmmm.... except maybe it would be better to overcoat to "contain" the wax in hot ambient.

So the whole point is for like $13 one can have like 152 color choices.. but MOST importantly - w/o having to play guessing games looking at about 300 Mohawk color chips on the Web.

I would gladly use the Mohawk IF I could narrow it down, but really, with the grain absorption variations, it's kinda impossible.

The two Crayons I ended up using are VERY different colors, AND, were NOT my first guesses, but had to try like 8 colors till I found final choices.

I'm not sayin to do this on hi end pieces, but I don't do hi end, so seems to be good for me.

Comments ?

Marc