How (and Why) to Make Your Own Wood Filler
You can buy wood filler at the store already made, so why bother making it yourself? The reason is simple:
Store-bought wood fillers do not absorb stain well enough to make your joints and filled areas look seamless. Plus, making your own is cheap and easy!
Watch the full tutorial on YouTube, or scroll down for the three simple steps!
Gather up some of your sawdust, and if you're anything like me, you have PLENTY of it! I've found that the finer the dust, the better.
Put it into a small disposable container, or a resealable container if you have a long project ahead of you.
Mix in approximately an equal portion of your favorite brand of wood glue. I like Gorilla brand, but any brand will be fine. You might need to play with the proportions a little bit, adding more glue or sawdust, until it gets to a nice consistency (which should be a bit like cookie dough).
Use your home made filler to patch up the gaps in your project, and allow to dry for several hours or overnight. Then sand thoroughly, and stain and seal as usual!
Comments
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I have use this technique thru the years for many applications. Some hardwood sawdust mixed with wood glue won't accept stain. But does work on softwoods.
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Thank you for the tip! I haven't done as much work with hardwoods yet, so I will be interested to test it out. What would you recommend on hardwoods?
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Does it last long in a sealed container, or do you simply mix as required? Thank you!
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I have some that has been in a seal container for about two weeks, and it's still nice and soft
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
This is very interesting, but what do we use if we don’t generate sawdust?