WOOD FILLERS
About Wood Filler
​Wood filler is a substance that can be used for a multitude of different purposes to repair your wood products.
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Wood filler can be divided into 2 main categories, water based, which can be thinned simply by adding more water, or tinted with organic pigments, and solvent based, which has a thicker consistency and is usually used for jobs that require a thicker layer, such as patching holes or cracks.
While it may come down to personal preference as to which compound you want your wood filler to be made with, the consistency is something that needs to fit the job. Also, a good wood filler should stay well fixed to the support you put it on, without peeling off and move.
When the filler dries then, water evaporates and some fillers tend to shrink and crack, making it necessary to remake the filling job with a second hand of product.
A good quality wood filler will not make it, or reduce it to minimal.
Filling Holes
​You can use a thicker wood filler to fill up cracks and holes in your wood products. The interior surface of the crack or hole needs to be prepared before you can push the wood filler in.
Use sandpaper to smooth out the inside as much as you can, and make sure to remove all the saw dust using a vacuum. Once the inside is smoothed, simply use a putty knife to press the wood filler in and smooth the top out, and once it has dried, sand the top until it is even with the wood surface.
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This can be handy for a number of different wood products that are susceptible to cracking, such as wood flooring, furniture, and many other things. You can also paint or stain over the putty once it has been sanded smooth, but make sure it is completely dry before applying anything.
Furniture
​For surfaces of furniture, rather than load bearing elements, such as the legs of chairs, you will want to use a combination of thick and thin wood filler, depending on the size of the spots you need to fix. For load bearing elements, you need to use a stronger substance than traditional wood filler, such as a wood hardener
Smoothing Wood Grains
​Most people need to do this at the initial point of a project, before they stain or paint a wood surface for the first time. Larger pored woods, such as oak, soak up stain like a sponge, and a thin coat of wood filler gives a smooth, almost glass-like surface to paint or apply your stain on.
You want to use a larger putty knife or a trowel to apply the layer of wood filler, because you have a larger surface area to work on, and the larger tool lets you apply a thinner layer.
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Once it has dried, you can sand the surface down to smooth it out before you apply the layer of paint or stain. Again, make sure the wood filler has completely dried before sanding or applying paint or stain.
Repairing Wood Paneling
Wood paneling adds a rustic accent to any home. Installing wood paneling is easy, although its flimsy texture leads to some unavoidable wear and tear, including the occasional break. A simple crack in wood paneling is somewhat easy to repair. Follow these steps to repair and fill cracks in wood paneling.