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 burnin 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, mudlike 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 burnin sticks, used with a hot knife or soldering iron to melt the wax and blend it into the defect. I prefer burnin 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:
Elmer's Wood Filler https://amzn.to/3pu03Vk
Canadian link https://amzn.to/2NEHcsz
Quick Wood Epoxy Putty https://amzn.to/3pyS0qp
https://amzn.to/3r3Vv8z
Minwax Wood Fill Pencils https://amzn.to/3j0YQCw
https://amzn.to/2YwocyN
Mohawk Burnin Wax Sticks https://amzn.to/2MjapZJ
https://amzn.to/3r4IBaj

Note: purchases made with these links help fund our video production work

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This video is hosted by Scott Bennett, Owner of Wooden It Be Nice Furniture Repair in Brooklin, Ontario, Canada. https://WoodenItBeNice.ca

#woodfiller #woodworking #woodputty