Stainable Wood Filler

[roughsawn]

What brand/kind of wood filler are you guys using...for brads, nails, crappy miter joints, or whatever...that does a good job of accepting stain.

I bought a big tub of Min Wax filler for filling worm holes in my rough cut lumber that I mill and finish, and brad holes in trim, etc. I'm not happy at all with the color match after stain. It's always lighter, and really stands out. There has to be something better. I will say, however, that my mix of glue and sanding powder works pretty good, better than the commercial.

What are you guys happy with?

[BonPacific]

May not be very helpful, but I gave up on wood filler entirely after trying a couple brands and the old sawdust+glue trick. Even working with beetle-eaten wood I just leave the holes. Trying to cover then up just called more attention to them in my experience.

[curlyoak]

Sorry the picture is much bigger than life. I do like this product. It is water based but you can use oil finishes. It comes wood species colors and more. Sands good. Is influenced by stain or varnish.

[Chet]

Yea, Timber Mate is a good product.

Another technique I learned from William Ng is to use wood glue and work it into the gap with you finger or thumb and then immediately sand the area with course sand paper, at least 80 grit but nothing finer.  You want a courser dust to fill, it looks better then fine dust.  After it drys you can do your regular sanding grit progressions.

[gee-dub]

+1 on Timbermate.  Some artist's oils and some small paint brushes allow you to add figure lines to help things blend.

[roughsawn]

Thanks guys! I'll get on the Timber Mate right away.

[Ronn W]

I really like timermate but you will not know the real color until after staining and finishing.  Do a test piece.  Good luck.

I have slao had good luck adding dye to timbermate.

[Wimayo]

Yes. Timbermate is a good product, but IMHO there is still a problem getting it stained to match the surroundings. This is mainly because of unavoidable differences in absorption qualities, color, and the lack of grain and texture. It will almost always take time, patience, and skill to blend filled areas well. There is no magic bullet filler that will automatically match it's surroundings.

[curlyoak]

If you want it for future various needs get all the species colors. If it dries out add a couple of drops of water to the top layer and work it to a putty consistency.