Wood Filler Mini-Tutorial

I love wood filler.  I hate holes, so I love wood filler.  It's so easy to use and after the furniture is painted, you can't even tell there was ever a hole there.  Would you like to share in my bliss?

Since my father and I recycle old wood for projects, the wood can come with nail holes and any number of "defects" (put in quotes because sometimes I like the character those "defects" give).  How we fill the holes depends on the finish for the peice.
Stain = no wood filler. 
Paint = yes wood filler.

The bedside table I've been working on has quite a few holes that have needed patching.  For once I remembered to take progressive pictures for you!  I decided I'd give you a run-down on wood filler.

Here we have pretty little bedside drawer.

It is pretty sturdily put together, not just with screws but with notches as well.  Just the same, I would rather the screw holes not show up in the finished product, especially those in front. (Can you spot them on either side of the front?)

So I grab the Elmer's wood filler to start patching things up.

Just take a little peice and start pushing it into the hole.  Make sure you cover the entire hole, putting a little extra around the edges. 

You also want to leave a small mound because it tends to shrink as it dries.

The amount of drying time depends on the size of the hole.  Small holes like these probably take about 15 minutes for drying, while larger ones can take an hour or more.  The directions on the side of the box have more advice about that.  I've left it for days, actually, because I haven't had time to get back to it.

After the filler dries, you simply sand the area so it's even with the rest of the wood.  Bam! No more hole.

Prime the project like normal and you're good to go.

If you're like me and eager to get the thing done, you may notice after a coat of primer that you missed some holes.

No worries here!  Simply repeat the same process- filling, drying, sanding.

Then give it another coat of primer and take you out of the oven 'cuz you're done!
Hope some of you found this as useful as I did.  You can also use wood filler for peices that you're refinishing, not building from scratch.

Remember- don't use wood filler if you are going to use wood stain!  It is for paint only.

Hooray for holelessness!

Bedside Table Progress

So I've been working on the bedside table from ana-white.com with the help of my master carpenter father.  I am sure I could go to Lowes and buy the wood and get it cut and follow Ana White's steps and be okay, but we have a field full of free wood.  The challenge is that I have to do the planing and cutting and glueing to make peices I would otherwise buy.  BUT.  The would we have is free.  There is a steady supply as my husbo keeps taking down old houses.  I am recycling wood (hooray!).  There is a story to the wood and I know where it's from.

So I am learning the skills needed to take on these preparation steps before I can follow Ana White's steps.

Anyhallyhoo I remembered to take a *few* pictures of where I am in the process of building this table.  I even took a few for a mini wood-filler tutorial (super duper stinkin' easy).

Here is the current state of the bedside table:

Sorry about the mess.. I've been working in Greer's shop to protect the beaut from pesky bugs that get stuck in wet paint.  This is all put together and primed, waiting for me to select the color to paint (most likely...white).  The lines you see towards the top of the table are notches for the table top to fit in.  It will make sense later.

The drawer is together, but waiting to be sanded and primed.  I still have some wood filler on it to sand off, but here's what it looks like now:

This entire table is made of pine from an old house my husband has been taking down.  The back of the drawer is cedar to add that lovely smell.  The bottom of the drawer is masonite because it's light, strong and we had some lying around.  Otherwise we would have used some spare plywood.

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