Thread: Filling Gaps in Sliding Dovetail Joint?

Either of those should work, though I've never used the varnish-dust mix myself. Another idea would be to use the pots or sticks of coloured filler that you can buy in most hardware stores. If they don't have your exact colour you can mix them together, though maple should be pretty easy to get in the US.

Lyptus

I would not use a yellow glue and sawdust mix. I find that this tends to turn black. Better would be to mix the sawdust with your finish. Alternatively, use a pigment (cement oxide) with 5 minute epoxy as a filler.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Lyptus,
I would be worried about both of the glue and sawdust methods. As hard as I've tried, I've never been able to get either method to blend with the other timber after the finish has been applied. Are the gaps in a location where you can cut a fine wedge of the same timber and glue and tap it into the gap?
If not, the closest I've been able to get is with mixing sawdust and the finish you plan to put on the whole piece. It does however look 'orrible until you finally finish it.
Fletty

As a painter & decorator with 40+ years in the trade I still find the best coloured filler is stained linseed oil putty.
The putty is stained using various methods, but I use artist oil colours in tubes.
The method is to mix 3 or 4 main colours and then intermix some of those colours together in different proportions to get a pallette of colours that cover the colours in the timber.
The putty should be mixed on a piece of glass so the oil isnt sucked out into a porous surface and if the mixture is too sticky whiting (calcium carbonate) can be mixed in to stiffen the mixture up.
If the colours are too strong they can be let down by mixing in untinted putty.
The usual colours mixed are burnt umber (brown) burnt sienna (reddy brown) yellow ochre (earthy yellow) and black.
The timber must have a coat of sealer so that you can match the colour properly and so that the oil in the putty dosn't soak out into the timber and stain it or dry out too quickly.
The putty should be applied with a putty knife ( the clip point stye rather than the flat american style is best) and pressed in and finished with with the knife, not a finger or sandpaper.
If the putty is left over night before finishing it will form a protective skin so it will not be affected by brushing etc. and it will slowly dry out under what ever is used as a finish.
Putty cannot be used as a filler for large holes as it remains soft too long but it is ideal for joints, cracks and nail holes.