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My friend told me to, the next time I want to patch screw holes. Use glazing compound, stain and baby powder. Mix it all together till it is paste like.

navycop wrote:My friend told me to, the next time I want to patch screw holes. Use glazing compound, stain and baby powder. Mix it all together till it is paste like.

Sounds like a good substitute for wood filler. Glazing compound can be applied in larger quantities without cracking or pulling away; it accepts paint (I don't know about stain) and I don't know why the powder (it does smell good).

On one of my first projects years ago, made entirely with hand tools, I peeled back a "curl" of wood with a bench chisel, then drilled my pilot hole and countersink and installed the flat head wood screw. Then I rolled back the "curl" and glued it back in place, covering the screw. To this day I can't tell where I put the screws.

Now, I usually cut plugs out of the same type of wood and glue them over the countersunk screw. If done carefully this also results in an almost invisible placement.

I've never had much luck trying to mix up a filler that will stain evenly with the rest of the surface.

8iowa wrote:...I've never had much luck trying to mix up a filler that will stain evenly with the rest of the surface.

A good way to accomplish this is to mix saw dust, from the wood of the project that you are working on, into the mix.

[quote="dusty"]Sounds like a good substitute for wood filler. Glazing compound can be applied in larger quantities without cracking or pulling away]

The powder is to keep the glazing from sticking to your fingers.

My grandfather passed on useing wood match sticks and wood glue

wildcard wrote:My grandfather passed on using wood match sticks and wood glue

Yes I learned at an early age to use either wood matchsticks or toothpicks and wood glue. In recent years every time I have tried either approach I found the screw didn't hold. Closer examination has me thinking the woods used for those instruments are softer now than in past years. I have changed to drilling out the screw hole and either using a dowel or cutting a plug and gluing. The plug is more fun if someone is watching. It's funny to hear about how hard I worked to fix one screw hole. Besides I never seem to have the right sized or type of wood dowel laying around. fjimp