# Mixing glue and sawdust - interesting



## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

I'm a self taught woodworker and I'm always enjoying learning new secrets of the trade from more experienced folks. I've read posts in the past that some of you have chimed in about mixing sawdust and glue to fill voids and correct mistakes. I'm interested in this technique and would appreciate any pointers. 

I know we're talking a lot of variables like wood species and glue types along with environmental conditions. So even with the best tips, I know I'll still have to hone down your generous tips.

So here a starting point... I have a table spoon of cherry sawdust. How much TiteBond III should I add to make this work? And speaking of sawdust, should I be using dust from the table saw or would it be better to use chips from the planner? Thank you


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I was taught to do that in high school shop but once I bought a can of wood putty I never mixed glue and dust again. There is no secret other than using some really fine dust like that from a belt sander. You just make a paste with it. Remember though when you get glue on the surface of wood it stains the wood to where it causes problems with staining sometimes. It's the same with homemade wood putty. You have to do a lot of extra sanding to get rid of the stain unless you mask off the surrounding wood. Then the homemade putty takes quite a while to fully cure so it tends to shrink if you sand it too soon. A lot of folks complain about store bought wood putty not accepting a stain very well. The homemade putty won't accept a stain at all.


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## Zircon (Aug 1, 2009)

I recently made this bench from reclaimed wood-nail holes,dings and some spaces between the box joints. I just pressed the Titebond into all the spaces with my finger and then hit the bench with the belt sander. First time I tried this and the imperfections just disappeared as the sanding dust mixed with the glue. I coated the bench with poly, no stain so I don't know if it would take stain.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I've never had any luck making wood filler with regular wood glue like Titebond, Elmer's etc. I have made filler using sawdust and epoxy. The epoxy darkens the sawdust significantly, so I used 50% sawdust and 50% colloidal silica to make a lighter filler. It works nicely, but it's an effort.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

I agree, not a fan. to make the store bought wood filler accept stain - put some on a scrap board, then dip the screw driver (I use a small one for filler tasks) once or twice into the stain, and mix that into the filler. it will darken the batch, and accept more stain when stain is applied to the project.


hint - I also have learned that a darker filler hides better than a lighter fill.


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## cps (Jun 21, 2013)

If you are doing a natural finish, I find that clear quick epoxy works pretty good, and cures way faster than wood glue. Works better on darker woods...Only does an OK job on maple.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Interesting variety of responses and I appreciate each one of them... so now I'm thinking... and soon I'll be experimenting. The consensus seems to be in line with my failed attempts, store bought fillers and apparently shop sawdust/glue/epoxy concoctions just are not going to accept stains. But TimPA has an interesting approach to mix stain prior to filling. And yes, I'm aware of the effect any of these solutions can have on the surrounding wood. 

Thanks again everybody - you all make this a great forum!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The universal tinting color a paint store puts in their machines to mix paint you can also mix into bondo. You just have to mix it before you put the hardener and allow the color to be a little less red to allow for the red color of the hardener.


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## mako1 (Jan 25, 2014)

Try shellac with sanding dust in place of the wood glue .


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## regesullivan (Jan 26, 2007)

I have never really measured the glue to dust ratio but have had pretty good experience using wood glue (Tightbond II mostly) mixed with wood chips and sawdust. I haven't tried it but I like the idea of putting a little stain into the mixture.

Really small holes and cracks - sanding dust (no glue), thin some glue just a little with water, fill the hole/crack with glue and rub the dust over it.

Midsize voids - table saw dust, dampen the dust with water, mix in glue until you get a consistency you like.

Big voids - mix shavings and table saw dust, dampen with water, mix in glue to a consistency you like.

For the bigger voids I usually paint a little glue in the void then push the mixture into the void, leave it a little proud and sand. Dampening the dust with a spray bottle of water before adding glue seems to make it take the glue better. The mixture should end up kind of dry, when it's too wet it will not take stain as well. You can rub a little sanding dust over and it make it instantly not sticky.

I look forward to hearing the results of your experiments.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

When I was in high school (45 years ago)our instructor would buy some super fine "sawdust" and we would mix it with water to make a paste it has it's own glue in it but we would add a little liquid hide glue also.. It was the best filler I have used, I called him about 25 years ago to ask him where he got it, he thought it was Constantien's but I looked and they didn't have it anymore 

I would love to find some more of the powder, but it seems they quit making it, it sure worked great


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## hts1965 (Jan 19, 2016)

We did it in trade school using dust, (from the wood we were filling), from one of our sanders, (spindle, disk, and one that had about a 6 foot belt over a table). We used the original Elmers white glue because it dried clear. We mixed a paste first and overfilled just a smidge, then rubbed some of the dust in on top Color match seemed good, and stain seemed to penetrate that final top layer, I think the only commercial filler made then was made with a lacquer base,


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## Chamfer (Sep 6, 2014)

My mentor demonstrated a couple times how they used to fill trim carpentry gaps back before caulk. Basically they'd take some wood glue and finer sawdust and mix it together on a piece of scrap, Then walk around and apply with a finger to small gaps.

Don't know how that method takes stain but the best thing I've found for filling stain grade holes is pre-colored putty. Minwax brand at your local box store should have them. My advice would be to buy one little container of every color so that you can mix to get a perfect shade.


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## UnisawGuy (Jul 20, 2014)

I use the wood "flour" from the filter on the dust collector and super glue. do not know how it will stain, but it is invisible under shellac.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

Looks like a few more options... Thanks to all. 

Because my project is near completion, I will probably settle for an enhanced version of Chamfer's solution... melting sticks by Merritt! Lots more colors/


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The melting sticks otherwise known as burn-in sticks is colored shellac. It would work easier if you will have the project sealed to use that. It doesn't sand very well and tends to stain the wood. If the wood is sealed you can squeegee the excess off with the knife. Just don't use a lot of pressure with the knife or go too slow. It can gouge or blister the finish.


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## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

A few times for small brad or fin nail holes I've dabbed glue into the hole then mashed sawdust into and on top of the clear drying glue. The glue absorbed into most of the dust but the top usually stays dry and for the most part didn't darken up to where it made a difference to my eye. I sanded over it and blew off the face then applied tung oil. The only visual clue is the lack of grain pattern at the spot. With chips missing I've made new chips and glued them back in under pressure then sanded, surprisingly good results.


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## Pfyl (Jun 3, 2017)

*Tightbond with sawdust*

Forget matching color with Tightbond & sanding dust; it cures darker and changes color. To match color, mix the same sanding dust with shellac. But making putty with Tightbond & fine wood dust produces a very strong bond for when color doesn't matter. I put sawdust from my band saw, router, and even the drill press into an 80-mesh chef's sieve to get all the excellent powder I need. It takes longer to cure than the glue by itself and longer than store-bought putty. It also sands harder than almost all wood (not harder than ebony & ironwood but harder than maple). It very strongly glues and fills small and large cracks, holes, and dents; just be careful when you sand and do that with a power sander that you can control or maybe a rigid sanding block. It sands about like 2-part epoxy fairing resin but is much cheaper. It has the drawback that it shrinks significantly as it cures. You can't just run your putty knife across the hole making it nice and flush and then expect it to cure like that. I'm experimenting with mixing flour, cornstarch, and sugar to see if that defeats the shrinkage. So far, it's still shrinking but I'm about to try mixing those cheap carbohydrates alone with the glue and no wood dust. If anyone knows how to defeat the shrinking, I'd like to know. Putty manufacturers obviously know how.


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