tear-out repair: sawdust mix vs. good putty?

[Ron Walkup]

I'm building a dining room table with a top of white oak. It has 2 or 3 small imperfections (a bit of tear out, open grain near knots), that I need to deal with. I would estimate the imperfection depth at 1/32 or less and maybe 1/2" across, and you can definitely feel them when running a finger over them. I will be staining it a medium-dark shade, then probably finishing with a satin poly (although that is up for discussion). I want the repairs to be as inconspicuous as possible. After reading lots of advice, I'm leaning towards one of these:

1. Use "white oak" shade filler, Timber Mate (or other brand?)
2. Mix sawdust from same stock with shellac
3. Get a card scraper and lower the areas

I have tried Durham's putty and sawdust mixed with Titebond so far in testing, and both stuck out like sore thumbs. Same thing with standard epoxy (hoping it would be clear). With a satin finish, if I go with option 3, will the lowered areas be noticeable? I've never used a scraper but it looks straightforward. For those of you who've used a sawdust mix, is there any base that will allow the sawdust to take the stain, and actually let the repair blend in?

I appreciate any advice from the master finishers.

[Phil Mueller]

I’m not a fan of sawdust and anything mix, unless it is close enough to the knot to blend in. Anything with sawdust will always be darker in color, so it might work if it’s part of the knot.

You will be able to feel a slight indent using a scraper, so I don’t think I’d do that unless it is so shallow that it can be feathered into the rest of the table.

When it comes to a repair, always go lighter...you can always color if needed after. I would probably do a wash coat of shellac over the imperfection, then fill with oak timbermate, then seal that with a shellac wash coat, then color to blend. You may need to use a marker to add some “grain”. Sealing with shellac will allow you to sand out the color if you get it wrong, then reseal and try again.

[John K Jordan]

John Lucas, a master at woodturning, showed my a technique to fill small voids what works well. He wet sands with thin CA glue. The sandpaper picks up fine sawdust from the immediate area of the defect and mixed with the CA can make a nearly invisible filler.

I'm personally a fan lf removing tearout if possible with hand scrapers. I grind curved scrapers for woodturning use.

JKJ

[Edward Dyas]

No deeper than it is I would be inclined to sand it with a belt sander rather than having a fill on a table top. I quit using sawdust and glue for wood putty more than 45 years ago. Anything you mix it with tends to seal the wood so when you stain it the color won't take. If you are going to fill it though try to find a wood putty that is tinted somewhat near the desired color. Putty tends not to accept stain and if you can get part of the way there it would help. If such wood putty isn't available you can get a universal tinting color and mix your own. A universal tinting color is the colorant a paint store has in their machines to mix paint. You might ask a paint store if they would sell you a couple ounces of a few different colors. Just take a clean jar or other container with you. Most wood stain is mixed with red oxide, yellow oxide and black. If you could post a picture of the desired color maybe we could help you with the pigment.

[Jim Becker]

The big challenge here is not having the repair show after dying/staining...anything that isn't 100% wood is not going to take the color exactly like the surrounding wood. Therefore, one thing you can consider is to fill these minor surface imperfections AFTER you color and seal the table top. There are any number of different options to do that, including common grain fillers (as long as they are compatible with your finish product choices), CA, resin, wax repair sticks (requires a barrier coat of wax free shellac after if you are using certain kinds of clear coats including water borne), etc. There is no rule that says you have to fix this stuff before you do your dye/stain, although it should be acknowledges that sometimes, depending on the product and color, they might highlight the defects. This is less of a risk if spraying the color or if a pre-stain conditioner or sealer is used first as well as not allowing extra colorant to stay in the recesses. (blow them out with compressed air... )

[Stan Calow]

I am currently dealing with a table top that has quite a bit of tearout around knotholes. I like Jim's advice about coloring first, then filling. I am not staining, so used several coats of shellac on the tearout area, sanded back, to fill the holes. The shellac gave just enough color to the spots to blend in with the surrounding wood. For a couple of the worst spots, I filled them with gel CA glue, which dries clear and scrapes and sands back to practically invisible. It would have to be a big gouge for me to use epoxy.

[Ron Walkup]

Thanks guys. I ended up trying some Varathane fill sticks, trying to mix them to get a color match after staining a test piece. That did not go well, either the color or the application (difficult to get flush). So I went for John's preferred method (hand scraper), and so far that's working well. I just need to tune my sharpening technique.