Homemade Wood Grain Filler

To me there are few things worse than completing a wood project and having gaps in joints or noticeable circles where a hole was filled with wood putty.

Homemade wood grain filler.

Some of them include. Why make your own wood filler. You want to get a close match by mixing some sawdust from the same wood with a wood glue. Most grain fillers are roughly the viscosity of pancake batter making them easy to work into the.

If you don t believe me just ask my wife. A few final tips. Grain filler is a binder mixed with a filler material such as silica micro balloons clay or calcium carbonate to for a thin paste. This close match is achieved by using the wood itself by mixing sawdust from the same wood with a binder typically wood glue.

I m sharing a diy wood filler recipe that s easy to make eas. Besides money there are still few reasons where you may want to make and use a diy homemade grain filler for oak wood. Again this is a limitation of all wood fillers. If you plan to stain your project afterword homemade wood filler typically takes up the stain very similarly to the actual wood.

Ok i confess i m a perfectionist. Before mixing the sawdust with carpenter s glue remember that this water soluble product has a color of its own and gives the filler an unappealing grayish tinge clear epoxy glue is a better choice especially if you need to mold the filler around the edge of a piece of wood. This might sound ridiculous but save your wood dust. You can t match wood grain.

Stop wasting your hard earned money on store bought wood fillers that don t match your project. After the filler has dried jim sands the entire surface with 120 grit to remove the filler from the non porous areas. The remaining filler accentuates the grain. Do it yourself wood filler is often called cabinetmaker s putty since woodworkers and fine carpenters often create their own filler to closely match a particular woodworking project.

The other ingredient in a homemade sawdust wood filler is something to hold it together. Virtually invisible wood putty for any species of wood free. You can fill close grained woods such as cherry or maple with a couple of coats of finish. Wood putty or wood filler is a much thicker mixture and is used to fill larger cracks and voids in the wood.

Such a finish requires the grain to be filled. Open grained woods such as oak walnut or mahogany however may require the use of a filler. Jim applies the paste filler to the surface with a small plastic spreader as shown below pushing the creamy material across the grain into the pores of the wood.