I hardly use wood dough anymore, months will go by before I need it, well I needed it yesterday and I opened my lil can of Famowood Wood Filler and it was all dried up. Not completely.

I know Famowood sells reactivating fluid for their dough, but does anyone have a way to reactivate the filler without having to order their fluid?

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Most of the stuff uses lacquer thinner as a solvent. 

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

Thanks Lew, got desperate yesterday and tried and mineral spirits, it worked kind of, needless to say I need some new dough man.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

John on the MSDS sheet it list Acetone, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and Solvent Naphtha.

You might try a little Acetone in it and see if that helps

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

I need lots of dough!!!

Thanks John, I'll try it, I know the stuff evaps really fast if you leave the lid off.

John Moody said:

John on the MSDS sheet it list Acetone, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, and Solvent Naphtha.

You might try a little Acetone in it and see if that helps

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Amen brother!

John Moody said:

I need lots of dough!!!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

When my fillers get thick I use acetone to thin them down.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Me Three!!!

$$$$$$$$$

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

John Morris said:

Amen brother!

John Moody said:

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Thanks guys!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I never need fillers...hee...hee.

And I have some swampland for sale.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Gene,

Arizona swampland???

Please send photos.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Gene Howe said:

I never need fillers...hee...hee.

And I have some swampland for sale.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Besides  filing brad holes what does one use wooddough to accomplish?

Possibly it's useful to fill in the gaps in joinery like M&T joints when one part was goofed up?

If so, there's better/cheaper solutions.  Like epoxy and sawdust or even plain old titebond and sawdust.   Both work a trice.

Larry,

There's lots of swamps in Arizona. Lots of sandy beaches, too. Just no water.

Waiting for CA to fall off the map. Then we'll have beachfront property. 

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I agree Cliff, like I said in my OP, I really never use it. Just had some on hand that I got about a year ago for some reason, don't know why, maybe dad brought it down for some reason. If I need matching wood putty I'll mix up some glue and sanding dust of the same species. But that rarely occurs even, it's not that I am that good of a woodworker, but frankly I hardly ever use any type of metal fasteners system anymore. Practically all my woodworking has been joined.

This set of pine cabinets I am doing however had to have a couple screws inserted in some key locations to convince a bowed panel to rest where I wanted it to. Since the cabinet is being painted, I thought I'd just cover the counter sunk screws with some dough that I had on hand. I went to open up the can and it was dry. Just to tell ya how often I use the stuff, never. Not only did I think I'd just use what I had on hand, I though it would make a great conversation here on TPW for others who do use it, to understand how to reactivate it. At this point, the can of dough is in the trash, I used what I could and just tossed the almost full can.

Cliff said:

Besides  filing brad holes what does one use wooddough to accomplish?

Possibly it's useful to fill in the gaps in joinery like M&T joints when one part was goofed up?

If so, there's better/cheaper solutions.  Like epoxy and sawdust or even plain old titebond and sawdust.   Both work a trice.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

John

Not enough room above the screw to make a plug and fill it? I used this on a toy box I made, worked out good and it was stained. Just a question.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

John Morris said:

Since the cabinet is being painted,

No room Wayne, the area I had to sink the two screws is right over a 3/8" dado, so I secured it to the edge of the shelf the panel was adjacent too. It worked out great. But I could only counter sink the screws about an 1/8" so a dowel plus is out of the question. I have used Bondo for this purpose before since the casework is going to be painted. Bondo works very well for wood repairs if you do not plan on staining or leaving natural. The wood dough worked nicely, I sanded it out and it looks nice and firm and secured.

Thanks Wayne

Wayne Mahler said:

John

Not enough room above the screw to make a plug and fill it? I used this on a toy box I made, worked out good and it was stained. Just a question.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Thanks for the tip Cliff, no bracing as any thing out of the norm would surely show. And the ornery panel wasn't really all that bad, I just had to force the panel in place and take the 1/8" bow out of it by screwing it flat to the inside edge shelf. Done deal, looks good.

You have a valid point about the movement, in the past I have had great luck with Bondo as I stated above in Wayne's post. Bondo is made to flex and adhere. I have seen work I have done twenty years ago today with no sign of what happened under the paint. Only I would know!

The dough seems to be doing well for now, craftsmanship in my work is guaranteed for life, so if this repair goes south on me, I'll make it right. So far I have never had any call backs, but there is always a first!!!!!

Thanks guys for the wonderful suggestions!

Cliff said:

John Morris said:

Unfortunately  the two dissimilar materials will move independently of each other over time and it may be sufficient to telegraph the screw hole.

But on the flip side, even a wood plug of the same material with the grain lying in the right direction can do this.

When I want to disguise the measures I've taken to flatten an ornery panel I try to use bracing where it won't show.  Can you X brace it from the inside?

A trick I have seen to do what you are doing is to not use plugs at all over the screws.

Rather a channel is routed that is wide enough to inset a strip (running with the grain of course) about  1/8" or thicker that looks to the eye like it was a regular glue up of pieces like one might  normally do to make a panel in the usual way. That way the edge grain usually stays nice and snug along the strip, doesn't telegraph, and the ends, where the fix might show, are well and truly concealed at the unlikely ends of the panel where no one ever inspects.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I've used bondo all over a three story victorian balloon frame house to  fill the hundreds of  3" holes made by insulators  who bent up asphalt shingles ( damaging them) to drill the perfectly good clapboards beneath chipping  and scarring the blazes out of them. then blew cellulose insulation in. The bondo worked perfectly and under paint was  unobservable.

Cellulose was a terrible insulation because it settled and collected moisture like a salt shaker on a picnic table on a hot summer day.