Renovating wood often involves filling cracks, holes, or even reconstructing missing pieces. To do this, one can use a ready-to-use wood putty or a two-component product, of the mastic or coating type. The choice depends on the importance and depth of the defects to be filled.
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For the repair to hold, the filling product must occupy the entire hollow and be one with the wood. Some products are applied in successive passes, more or less fine, which must be allowed to dry each time. Others can be used without limit of thickness. The open and drying times are the main selection criteria. Just like the ability of the filler not to shrink or crack as it hardens. It is also useful to be able to compare the adhesion power (expressed in MPa) of the products. This data does not appear in the technical data sheets for wood pastes, only in those of some putties or two-component coatings.
The wood pulp, mono-component exclusively
Packaged in jars or tubes, the wood pulp itself is mainly intended for small fillings. Made of wood fibers or water-based acrylic resin, it is available in different shades of light to dark wood, miscible between them: mahogany, oak, beech, cherrypine, wenge… In most cases, theapplication is carried out in layers of 3 to 10 mm maximum thickness. The indicated drying times vary from about ten minutes to 3 or 4 hours depending on the products, the thickness used and the ambient temperature. But, here again, the information sometimes lacks precision between the intermediate deadlines to be respected and obtaining complete drying, which can take from 12 to 24 hours.
Putty or wood coating: to be prepared before use
Two-component sealants come in the form of a polyester resin and a hardener (in a tube) to be mixed thoroughly before application. More resistant than wood putties, they allow you to do all kinds of repairs requiring great hardness and strong consistency. In general, two-component wood putty hardens quickly. The setting is done in 10 to 15 minutes and the core drying occurs after 20 to 30 minutes.
Filling or wood repair fillers are packaged in powder to be mixed in water, until a homogeneous paste is obtained. They are therefore two-component. More spectacularly than putties, they make it possible to reconstruct missing parts (broken angles or other) of any size, without the need for formwork. Three hours after application (on average), the repair is dry. It is then possible to drillplaning, sandsculpt… before applying the finish: wax, paint, varnishetc
What you must remember
- Wood filler repairs are generally less resistant than putty or filler. Most of the time, you can only sand them and if necessary drill them.
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