# Dealing with a unwanted hole, how to hide it?



## EnglishElm (Dec 17, 2015)

Hello I'm making a TV corner cabinet for my parents and I'm using solid oak and making plenty of mistakes having not done much woodworking since school. One mistake is that I've drilled through a solid oak shelf too far where I was putting in a dowel joint so now I have a visible hole on the shelf. Is there anyway I can get rid of this? Any tip or trick to hide it? Many thanks. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/with/23443957769/


----------



## pweller (Mar 10, 2014)

I have found that it's usually best to fill wood with wood, and not some filler putty stuff (unless the hole is really small).

You'll also want to try and match the grain direction, so don't use an oak dowel section (endgrain) to patch the surface of a board, as the plug will probably come out too dark after finishing.


----------



## shoot summ (Feb 21, 2014)

Make a thin, flat strip that runs between the 4x4's. You can see somewhat of a shadow in the pic how it would run, 1/4" think, 2"ish wide, slightly round the leading edge. It will look like a nice trim piece that finishes it out. Hardest part will be cutting the angles to fit against the 4x4's.

BTW, are those 4x4's oak? They don't look like it, and the stringers don't either...


----------



## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

What size is that hole? It looks fairly small. I would plug it with a piece of oak, glue it in place and sand it flush.

You might be able to find a dowel rod at the big box store that would fit.

Or, they make plug cutters that are fairly cheap. Maybe you could cut a plug from some scrap.

If it is in the back, no one will ever know but me and you!


----------



## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

its close enough to the edge for this.

with a sharp utility knife score 2 lines adjacent to the hole and parallel to the grain. start maybe a 1/4" past the hole and go to the edge. next take a sharp chisel and remove a sliver of the wood between the cuts made. then glue in a similar piece, clamp it down tight. when dry, pare it down to the surface.


----------



## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

You could take a plug from a piece you've been working to match color and pattern, or you could use a gouge to scoop out a chip from the error and a 2nd matching piece then glue and clamp it into the error.


----------

