Wood Filler & Putty for Furniture Repair | Woodworking How to

What is wood filler versus wood putty? What are wood fill sticks? See what products we use for wood repair in our furniture repair shop so you understand when to use each of these products.

The description on the labels of the wood filler products I use are as follows:
- Wood patch
- Wood filler
- Wood putty
- Wood repair epoxy putty
- Fill pencil
- Putty pencil
- Putty stick filler
- Wax filler stick
- Quick fill burn-in stick

The marketing of these products makes them very confusing to understand. Let me break these down into categories to better understand what they're used for. The first is what I call a wood filler. It's a thick, mud-like product that's used to fill holes and dents in bare wood. This is used for filling defects in woodworking that will be painted. It can also be used on wood that will be stained, but it is challenging to disguise the wood filler from being seen.

The second category of wood fillers is a putty. By definition, a putty is something that is soft, malleable, and hardens. Wood putty is used on finished wood surfaces and is available in a variety of colors. It's intended to be worked into the defect and left to harden. Wood putty can't be sanded as it doesn't harden enough. I typically use this to fill nail holes at the edge of a hardwood floor where the last few strips of flooring must be surface nailed.

Another type of wood putty is epoxy putty. This is a product that will dry very hard and is difficult to sand because it is so hard. The advantage of an epoxy putty is that it will hold structure, unlike other wood putty products. I use it to repair carvings or wood damage on the corner of cabinets where the putty must hold strong. It's best to shape it into the finished dimensions as it hardens to avoid excessive labor in sanding.

The last category of wood fillers is what I describe as wax fillers. These come in different forms; pencils, crayons, soft sticks, and hard sticks. The softer wax fillers can be rubbed into the defect and buffed out. They're used on finished wood only. The hard sticks I use are burn-in sticks, used with a hot knife or soldering iron to melt the wax and blend it into the defect. I prefer burn-in sticks as I can work in multiple colors that closely match the wood grain and conceal the filled area most effectively.

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Here are links to some of the products I use:

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#woodfiller #woodworking #woodputty

[franklinass]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Most other videos I found only worked with a single product, and they never explained their specific use. Thanks for the detailed video.

[NinjAaaron]

This is the best comparison of types of fillers and techniques to use that I've seen anywhere yet.

[DogDog]

Whevener this guy explains something I am all eyes and ears.

[thetopfan]

Glad I found this video. I have several table corners to repair from puppy chewing. Quik Wood is what I need. Thanks.

[cavalli]

Hi. Thank you for helping me understand the terminology- I was at a Home Depot recently and confused with what to purchase- I am still not entirely sure which product to use even after watching this video. I have laminate flooring and deep gouges - the floor is tan colored. I have PlasticWood X by DAK and thinking of using this on the gouges on the laminate floor. I will try researching this a bit more before using this product. But thank you for posting this video! In case you are familiar with plasticwood X by DAK let me know your thoughts about using this product on laminate flooring..

[balover]

Sir, thank you so much! Feels comprehensive enough I can apply the information to other products I may come across, without overwhelming this beginner! The examples of the category types is also much appreciated, and I LOVE the business name! Thank you thank you!

[mrgarner]

Amazing detail in your furniture repair. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

[maitai]

Thanks. Nice to finally know the differences between all of these products and the proper application.

[byhammerandhand]

A couple of other things that I have regularly used for "filling". One is hard resin burn in sticks. These come in transparent and opaque colors and I have done 10s of thousands of them. These are useful for repairing damage such as dents or scratches on the "show surfaces" You level them and then match the sheen level. Done properly, the repair is very hard to see. But it's not an easily learned skill to get it right. It takes a little practice. I probably have 50 different colors but the most used are light and dark amber transparent sticks.

Second is a 2-part wood filler. Common brands are Bondo and Minwax. I have used these where there is deep damage like a dog chewed a large section of molding. It sets fast and you can rough trim with a chisel or knife before it's fully set up, then finish up by sanding.

Mohawk and Guardsman make a variety of colors of the epoxy putty sticks. Just like the wax sticks, you can blend them together. They do set up much faster and you can accelerate by heating with a hair dryer. If you are in the shop, time does not matter as much as when you are working on site and have unproductive time waiting for the epoxy to set up. I've also used them to fill in where hanger bolts have stripped out of things like sofa legs.

[leonardnoel]

One of the best presentation I found on YouTube. Thank you.

[clarkhussey]

Scott, great to have you back! I was just blending wood putty this morning. Fixing a table.

[vibrationalfrequincies]

Thank you for sharing! Listening and watching this is giving me ideas on how to repair a missing patch on an old dresser.

[gilbertlopez]

Thank you for the informative video. What i like about your presentation as opposed to other big sponsor type, is others say use this and that. Your instructing is more use this and not that because and explain why in short to the point manner. Really appreciated. Looking forward to more videos.

[aBushwickCangri]

I had to stop video, to say thanks!!!! Excellent already!!!

[mikecozzi]

I have used Mohawk epoxy sticks and had fantastic results!
Mohawk has a viriety of colors to choose from, not only that you can read the chart and inter mix putty epoxy to achieve the exact color!

[HawkFest]

1:05 Looking at the Canadian naming for different brands, at least in French they're consistent throughout all such product: unequivocal "MASTIC"... So should we learn French in order to NOT get confused by those marketers? Jesus... Thank you so much for your Chanel, IMHO you're one of Youtube's rare gems. Huge thumb up!

[fathalkhairgalleryantiques]

Thanks so much for sharing with us your great experience. Rashid from Bahrain

[nsuuqdg]

Excellent video, informative and clear. Really appreciate the examples shown for each type too! Thank you.

[Johnny-adamser]

Perfect. I saw all of these on Amazon and I had no idea of the differences

[anthony-juqo]

Another excellent product is Durhams Rock Hard water putty. Works on bare or painted wood. It's inexpensive and yields a lot of putty per can. Also mixing sawdust with some wood glue is another option.