Is there a ready mixed wood filler that is as good as the two part type?

[Foresty_Forest]

I'm using a two part wood filler for finishing my mitres. The problem is it goes off too quickly, infuriating and time consuming when there's several frames to be finished. Every other type of filler I've used develops hairline cracks at the join.

Is there a ready mixed filler that is as good as the two part type? One that doesn't require the mixing in of a catalyst?

[Not your average framer]

There were many different types of wood filler at one time, but it seems to be largely the two part fillers that have taken over these days. There is still the possibility of mixing you own fillers using saw dust and Cascemite powdered wood glue which will produce a very solid filler with a reasonable gopd ratio of glue to saw dust.

[Foresty_Forest]

That's great advice, I hadn't thought about making my own filler. Do you happen to know of any recipes?

Good too because if I use saw dust from the mouldings I'm using it'll match the colour well (I think?)...

[Foresty_Forest]

A quick Google and there appears to be several types of Cascemite glue? Is there a best one?

[Not your average framer]

Just the plain ordinary casin based interior wood glue will do fine. You don't the the outdoor fully waterproof and weather proof version intended for boat building.

[Not your average framer]

There are some many different ways of filling gaps and various forum members use all sorts of different things accord to what best suits the need for each individual requirement. If it works and produces a durable and lasting result, together with a good match for the existing finish on the moulding being used, that's a pretty good start. Some fillers mixed with nice thick acrylic paints can be quite effective.

I don't tie myself to only one particular method, but I would says the speed and the quality of the final result are primary requirements and well up towards the top of my personal list. As usual, I always like simple, quick, easy and effective. I think that this might be a good cue, for the many other forum members who have their favorite methods to add their bits to the list.

There's a lot of real good recipe's and method's out there and generally most are excellent and have been successfully used over quite a long time!

[Justintime]

Isn't two part filler a bit overkill?
I use Brummers stopping wood filler most of the time, with Ronseal All Purpose wood filler in natural for Ash and Tulip.

[Not your average framer]

I'm guessing that whether it is overkill, or not would depend up on the use. I think that two part filler is usually o.k. for hand findinged frames where you can sand the filled area down to be completely hidden when painting over the whole frame, but not very help when trying to fill a not quite perfect corner on a factory finished frame.

Another case would be where it is necessary to fill and stain something with a natural wood grain finish, but the wood needs a small defect filling first, in such a case the filler would need to sand down well, but look right when stained or varnished and look like part of the original wood when viewed through the stain, or varnish. In such a case Brommer wood filler is often the automatic first choice.

There are times when I will sometimes fill the outside edge of a not quite perfect corner in an Ash, or Oak moulding using a hard wax filler of the most suitable colour of wax and sand it down so that the saw dust from the sanding down gets embeded into the surface of the hard wax filler, creating an even closer match to the correct colour and tone of the actual wood it's self.

The choice for every case and situation might not always be the same and also not every individual necessarily uses exactly the same methods. Sometimes there is no right, or wrong filler, or method, but if the final result is right, that's what matters most. As always, experimenting and experience has a lot to do with mastering good technique and becoming really good at producing invisible filled defects.

[Justintime]

I mean that if the cut and join is good, then its a lot of work to mix 2 part for a small discrepancy. If it's barewood, I'd clamp it tight and fill it in the morning, if there's something left to fill. It may be that you need to check your cuts and joins first.

[Steve N]

I agree with Jusintime, if you set your machines up to cut and join correct, then you don't need to waste time filling and sanding
Just saying.........

[Steve N]

I agree with Jusintime, if you set your machines up to cut and join correct, then you don't need to waste time filling and sanding
Just saying.........

[Not your average framer]

Except for when the grain in the wood is very hard and does not cut as it should. Aukwardly aligned grain in Ash is not always easy to cut an absolute perfect cut , even though thr front face of the moulding cuts without gaps, but sometimes little bits are missing along the outer edge at the corner. I even use one moulding where there's no gap at the insid, or outside edge, but I sometimes can get a small gap in the middle.

I also have an almost identical bare wood profile, which cuts perfectly every time and I can't understand why two virtual indentical moulds, same type of wood and same dimension should tend to cut quite differently to each other. Personally, I can't understand why this should be!

[Foresty_Forest]

It's not just the occasional bodge to sort out, it's that I want and invisible joint. And hairline cracks at the joint is an irritation.

[Foresty_Forest]

Are repair waxes likely to crack at a joint?

[Justintime]

Can you give an idea of what finishes you're talking about?

[Foresty_Forest]

right now I'm looking at Konig Furniture Repair Wax Filler Sticks.

[Justintime]

I'm mean are you talking about gesso, hand painted, spray painted, pre finished, barewood??

[Foresty_Forest]

Hand-painted and bare wood...

[Steve N]

I take it you are glueing as well as underpinning the joints, with the right size pins so they end up around 3-5mm below the surface

Before sanding for painting , I usually rub a bit of wood glue over the joints and then sand, so the dust from the sanding goes in to the glue in any crack.

[Not your average framer]

To ask the question about ready mixed fillers being as good as a two part filler, is a bit of a strange question. Different types of fillers are not necessarily ones that you would use for the same uses and requirements, so I gets confusing as you are not comparing like with like. Not only that, but each of us may be using these fillers in different ways and maybe for slightly different requirements.

I think that you might take some of the advice from different, well clued up forum members, (of which there are many to choose from) and try some of the fillers that the recommend, to see what works best for you. Some things are not a one siize fits all type of thing, but there's an element of trying some things to find the one you want.

Is there any such thing as one type of filler that will be suitable for every requirement? Personally,I very much doubt it! A lot of us experiment quite a lot to produce what works for us. Give it time a you may may be doing a bit of that too, just like so many of us like to do! Matching some finishes of some factory finished mouldings, is not always easy and some us us mix our own filler to be the right match, when we need to!