Anybody have any tips for getting holes to disappear using wood filler? I'm refinishing our kitchen cabinets and installing new pulls which have different holes. I've been overfilling the holes, then sanding it down. But even after painting and everything, the filler is a little depressed within the hole. I've even tried adding more filler and sanding it but am running into the same problem.

Does anybody have any tips?

I've tried the High Performance Minwax wood filler, which seems to harden faster than I can use it up. Also the Dap wood filler that changes color as it drys.

Thanks for the help

When painting we would do a mix of saw dust and wood glue to fill. Once hard, smooth down with a sanding block (do not do by hand), and then paint.

It was a cheap trick which works surprisingly well.

Although, you may need to dig out the previous filler(s) as this works on holes (like screws set just below the surface) and not for divots.

fill in the hole so the filler forms a mound when it's wet. It will shrink some as it dries.

Then, as mentioned, sand with something hard and flat - not a finger on sandpaper. If you mash the sandpaper with hand or finger, it will dimple down into the hole instead of just sanding it off flush with the surroundings.

You are obviously doing something a bit wrong, but I am not sure what it is. When you fill the holes with the putty yous should press it in HARD with a putty knife and then leave it overfilled slightly. Most shrink a bit when drying, so it might need another iteration. But don't sand until it is DRY, and then sand with a hard backing behind the paper so that you can't go below flush.

Durhams Rock Hard Putty. Comes as a dry powder and has been around forever.
Sticks well and sands like a dream. If you are working on small holes or depressions,
use a single edge razor blade as a putty knife. You can get pretty precise.

Drill the hole with a drill press, cut off a dowel just smaller than the hole and epoxy it in just below the door wood height, then wipe a small layer of filler and sand. This is a little time consuming, BUT will prevent the sagging issue.

quote:

Originally posted by lbsid:
Durhams Rock Hard Putty.

Oh man! I have used that stuff too, but you have to be really careful because it dries so hard that you can never get it back down to level without eroding the region around it!

Even for small holes like that I use dowel fills or sometimes a small dutchman.