Originally Posted By: demarpaint
You'll never nail an exact color for wood fill. Over the years I've made my own fillers with sawdust [from the wood used], some glue, and stain, mix it into a puddy, it has worked well. It takes a good eye for color and knowing how to get the right mix. An easier way which gives pretty good results is the Minwax wax pencils in the color of the stain you used.
Another trick is to use small nails to secure the trim, or tell the carpenter to do so. I've followed some real hacks over the years that used spikes for finishing trim work. I've also followed some of the best carpenters around, they used the right nails and made my job doing the finish work a lot easier.
This. You will NOT get a filler to match exactly in the pre-colored ones. The kind you fill 1st and then stain over NEVER take the stain the way the wood does. As you sand the filler down it hardens it and almost glazes it over. Same principle as body filler. Makes it hard for the stain to sink in. Even individual pieces of wood take stain differently. I have never liked the Minwax putty pencils.
I too have used the saw dust and glue trick. Use really fine sawdust( basically powder )however or it makes the putty surface rough( like an open grain which makes it stain darker ). I never mixed the stain with it 1st though. I always filled the hole with the glue/sawdust mixture, let it drty, then sanded it and just stained as I was doing the entire piece. I also have found this works better on light colored projects vs dark ones. It seems to work really well on oak and pine using a light to medium colored stain like Golden Oak.
Your best option is to stain a scrap and take it to the store and find the closest pre-colored one you can and just go with it. Assuming you use small finish nails( all a moulding needs )and set them with a small nailset the holes to fill wiill be small and disappear once all are filled IF you get a putty that is close.
Make sure you stain the wood BEFORE putting pre-colored putty in. Don't put it in 1st. IF you will do more than one coat of shellac/poly/lacquer/whatever do one coat before putting putty in( actually makes it easier to do ). Once you are ready to put the putty in only take a small bit out of the jar( about the size of as grape max ). Roll it in your fingers to warm it and make it pliable.
Once it is warm and pliable take a small piece off and roll it into a thin log like shape with a point on one end you can put into the hole. Press straight in so it fills the hole fully and then pull off to the side and away in a quick motion so it breaks but leaves the hole filled. Use a clean soft rag to lightly wipe off any extra( don't press down hard on it ). Only put enough in the hole to fill it. Try not to gob it all over and press it in to fill it. That will actually stain the wood if it doesn't have at least one coat of finish on it( shellac, poly, etc... I don't mean the stain ). It will really look bad if you fill it like that on bare wood.
Note - once you fill the holes and then do your final top coat be advised as the top coat dries it might cause the putty to be pulled out slightly and leave a small bump if you don't get the hole filled fully. Highon a cellling it is not an issue. On finish work down low you may have to lightly sand it then do one last top coat( if you care ).
Before I got sick and became unable to do it anymore I used to build cabinets( entertainment centers, gun cabinets, armoire's, wine racks, etc... )plus I did a lot of finish carpentry in new homes so I have done this a lot. The above is how I was taught to fill the holes and it works well. Get the putty color even 90% close and once it is all finished they will vanish. Certainly to those who don't know where the holes are. Well, assuming you used small nails and a proper nail set. Huge nail holes that have been fiilled show no matter how close the putty color gets.
I used to get a filler that came in powdered form. You actually mixed it with some of the stain you used and then filled the holes with that before sanding the piece. Once top coated it was the closest thing to invisible I have seen. It disappeared from stores around here though years ago? No idea if it is still made or not? Came in a little white plastic tub( sort of like a spackle tub )with brown writing/emblem. Can't recall the brand name sorry. IF you find some it is great stuff. However it has to be top coated with at elast 2 coats or it falls out. Just FYI.
Here are some items I had to fill holes in. Light or dark it doesn't matter it is hard to make them vanish completely...
I am adding this photo to show you what I meant about what happens if you glod the filler on and how it can stain the wood. If you look just under the top, on the trim moulding, you will see 3 dark spots( the worst is at far left ). I was newer to making things and as a result I got in a hurry( never hurry finish work! )and pressed too hard which spread the pre-colored putty/filler out. I didn't wipe it right off as I should have either and let it sit for a few minutes. The stain in the putty itself sucked right into the graining of the moulding and actually discolored it pretty bad in a couple spots. There are finish nails in the face frame styles but you can't see the putty because I did that properly. I didn't notice those putty stains on the trim moulding until it was already delivered( requires the right light - you wouldn't notice it unless at the right angle with the right light - just so glaring in the photo due to the flash and how clsoe I am ). I ended up refinishing the piece and replacing that moulding as I couldn't sand it clean to my satisfaction.
Hope this helps you out. It may seem awful long winded for so simple of a thing but you can really mess up fine wood working with messy putty technique. Good luck with it.
