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I did a search on the subject of wood fillers and was not able to find anything that really answered my question. I just finished making two file cabinets that are basically big rectangular boxes made out of birch plywood. the sides and back are joined at 45 degree angles. This was my first time glueing up such a big box joined with 45’s. Needless to say it took me few tries to get it right. The first corner fits a little less than perfect and I have a few small gaps (approximately 1/64″ wide) in the middle section of the joint. I later discovered that the problem occurred due to uneven clamp pressure along the joint. At any rate, I am going the stain the boxes but I want to somehow fill the gaps. What is the best wood filler to use so that the imperfection will be as unnoticeable as possible?
Thanks,
Jamie
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Jamie, While many wood fillers claim to be stainable, I've yet to find one that takes stain well. My inclination would be to stain the cabinet before filling and then try to find a tinted filler that best matches your stain. Stain a piece of scrap to take to the store(s). Then apply a clear finish. I hope someone has a better solution because I've sure needed one over the years.
*For gaps that are that small, I'd go ahead with sanding and finishing the cabinets, and then use wax pencils or painter's putty rubbed in and buffed out.
*Jamie,You can make a very good wood filler using hide glue and wood flour (fine saw dust) of the same species of wood. You can used thinned hot hide glue or the ready-to-use liquid hide glue. Mix and fill the voids, allow to dry and scrape or sand smooth. Hide glue is transparent to stains and finishes.Stephen
*It'll always look filled. The wood flour filler works OK on darker woods, but it'll be too dark for the birch ply. What you can do to make it look nice is rout the corner out with a straight bit and set in a strip of the same or contrasting wood. The solid corner will also keep the edges from chipping as they will be prone to do.
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