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Vent: I was out of my usual wood filler and tried mixing sawdust with a bit of carpenter's glue for a quick patch on a maple face frame.
The client's dog chewed the corner of a finished cabinet door, and in a panic before they got home, I mixed the fine maple dust from my sander bag with some Titebond III, slapped it on, sanded it smooth, and you literally cannot tell, which feels like a weird, forbidden magic trick, right?
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hannaho523mo agoMost Upvoted
That's the original wood filler recipe, honestly. People used to do that all the time before the pre-mixed stuff filled the shelves. The real trick is matching the dust color and grain direction perfectly, which you nailed. It's not forbidden, it's just old-school knowledge that still works better than a store-bought tube half the time.
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alex5241mo ago
@gavin_clark Hold up, that's EXACTLY the right fix though. I've had this happen more times than I care to admit. The key is to ALWAYS save your sander bags for this kind of stuff. I keep a few different color bags labeled in my shop for exactly this reason. Maple dust with Titebond III is actually a REALLY good combo for light woods because the glue dries clear and the dust just blends right in. Next time though, try pressing the mixture in a little FIRMER than you think you need, then give it an extra hour to cure before sanding. The Titebond shrinks just a TINY bit as it dries and if you don't pack it tight, you'll end up with a slight dip after sanding.
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