Favorite colored wood fillers?

[Gabriel Marusic]

We're working on a project with some maple ply and need to do some minimal patching. Reading reviews online for maple colored fillers it seems that the reviews are a bit polarizing to say the least. Wondering what the community here likes as their choice, ideally without needing to do much, if any, tinting.

[Jim Becker]

Whenever possible, I make every attempt to use slivers of the actual wood to fill cracks and defects in a project. It's the only way to make them almost disappear. Plywood is a tougher row to hoe...if you are clear coating only, merely matching color will work but fillers tend to show up a bit as a sheen difference sometimes. If you are planning on coloring the plywood, pretty much any filler you use is going to be readily visible because it will never likely take stain and/or dye the same as the material. So with plywood, it's best to avoid needing to do any filling...

[Ken Krawford]

I'm currently using Timbermate. Most of my projects involve soft maple and this product blends in perfectly. It dries quickly and sands nicely. Being water based is a bonus.

[Phil Mueller]

I also prefer Timbermate, however, I’ve only used it for grain filling. Grain filling is more forgiving because even though it creates a slight contrast in the grain, it isn’t noticed...it’s consistent over the entire surface. I’m not sure what the result will be for plywood voids...like Jim said, probably noticeable.

A picture of the problem areas might give us a better idea of what your looking to correct.

[Jim Tobias]

Timbermate! You can also tint it to a close to perfect match with some patience and trial and error before the real deal.

Jim

[Gary Thinglum]

Here's a little tip for saving the remainder of the jar. When I finish using it, I "pad" down the remainder of the putty then, fill the remainder of the jar with water to the top. Then put the cover on, I tighten it slightly with a pair of pump pliers, just enough to seal it. Has worked well with Minwax, and other brands of putty in a jar. I've had colored putty last up to 7 years. The same is true with window putty.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Timbermate. Haven't touched anything else since I tried it 10 years ago. Can recharge/revive with water. Can intermix for best color (ebony is necessary to mix with walnut).
Used for grain filler as well as general purpose. Hey- if it's tough enough for hardwood floors, I'm very confident using on furniture.

[Gabriel Marusic]

I'm currently using Timbermate. Most of my projects involve soft maple and this product blends in perfectly. It dries quickly and sands nicely. Being water based is a bonus.

Thank you for the suggestion. This seems to be the consensus so Timbermate it is for me.

[Gabriel Marusic]

Here's a little tip for saving the remainder of the jar. When I finish using it, I "pad" down the remainder of the putty then, fill the remainder of the jar with water to the top. Then put the cover on, I tighten it slightly with a pair of pump pliers, just enough to seal it. Has worked well with Minwax, and other brands of putty in a jar. I've had colored putty last up to 7 years. The same is true with window putty.

That is a great idea, thank you for the tip!