Replies

1. 
   Alan | Nov 28, 2004 12:00am | #1

   hammertime,

   Just out of curiosity, what kind of finish did you spray?  Did you use anything besides putty beneath the finish?  Depending on what sort of finish you sprayed, it might be too old.  Did you spray varnish? shellac? or what?

   What puzzles me most is you say the "areas of the putty" are the problem.  Does that mean the wood is lighter in the vicinity of the cracks and holes? or only the putty itself is lighter?

   Enquiring minds...oh never mind...

   Alan

1. 
   Isamemon | Nov 28, 2004 07:59pm | #8

   we sprayed a water based poly, it was all new, sprayed with an airless sprayer

   the putty looked like a perfect match when on bare wood

   but now we have the halos at the nail holes and small seams that we filled

   tahnks for all the advice and help

1. 
   Dave45 | Nov 29, 2004 05:44pm | #9

   Aha!!  There's the key - lol.

   It's sad but true that wood fillers usually look great on the raw wood but show up after it's finished.  In my experience, wood fillers NEVER take stain and/or finish like the surrounding wood and usually show up after the stain/finish has dried.  If a filled nail hole isn't sanded completely, you get a 'halo'........If it is sanded down, you still get a 'spot'. 

   I've managed to significantly reduce the problem by using the wax fillers to match the colors after staining - and by using my 23 ga pin nailer wherever possible.

   On another thread, there's a lot of discussion about articles FWW should run and I think that clever ways to hide fillers would be a good one.

    

1. 
   AlbionWood | Nov 30, 2004 06:19am | #10

   Damn good idea! I just learned something from this thread, so an article that contained information like this would be helpful.Probably can't have too many articles on all aspects of finishing - judging from the comments on this forum, it's a subject people feel unsure about and are really looking for more information."Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."  A. Einstein

   http://www.albionworks.net

2. 
   DaveHeinlein | Nov 28, 2004 12:37am | #2

   You should have put the first coat of finish on *before* you puttied. Then you would have been able to wipe the excess putty away without pushing it into the surrounding wood, creating a 'halo'

   I have the best results with a putty called,oddly enough, Color Putty. They have dozens of tones, and you can mix them to match. But seal the wood first.

1. 
   Isamemon | Nov 28, 2004 03:37am | #3

   halo describes exactly the problem and the look

   thanks

1. 
   zendo | Nov 28, 2004 04:56am | #4

   Dave is on track, but remember if this is water polyed, the putty is going to be lighter then all the interior in a few months anyway from the light exposure.  I usually put on a darker putty and tell the client what is going to happen-  That the putty and the wood will even out over time.

   I dont do a lot, but commonly do about 3 or 4, second home V-match interiors throughout house a year and stair treads like this as well.  There are others that would say putty is something that you replace every few years like painting walls.

    

   Edited 11/27/2004 9:03 pm ET by zendo

3. 
   Paul_Snyder | Nov 28, 2004 07:39am | #5

   I usually use the fast drying Famowood filler and choose a color that works well with the aged color of the wood. For example, on pine with a natural finish, I'd use the pine or maple colored filler. If the filler is slightly darker than the wood, that'll show up less in most cases. Lighter spots seem to stick out.

   As far as the halo goes, sounds like you didn't sand the filled spots enough. When you first apply the filler, leave it a little above the wood surface so it'll be flat when you sand it. Once it's leveled, it'll look like the center picture, but it needs a little more sanding. Sand it until it looks like that last picture (no halo). Wet the spot with naphtha if you can't tell for sure if it's sanded enough; the naptha will make the halo stand out if it's there.

   View Image Filler

   View Image Filler Partially Sanded

   View Image Filler Completely Sanded

   If the filled spots show up badly after the first coat of finish, you can sand the finish smooth for the second coat, remove the dust, then use a touch-up pen/marker on the spots to blend them in.

   Paul
   Website

1. 
   newtrva | Nov 28, 2004 06:06pm | #6

   In a similar situation would you consider using cut nails and no putty to give the room an "older" look? That would eleminate all these problems associated with the putty.

4. 
   Dave45 | Nov 28, 2004 06:28pm | #7

   I think Paul has it nailed (no pun intended - lol).  If you didn't sand the filler enough, you'll get that 'halo'.

   I've found that those wax 'crayon' fillers do a good job if you use them after you've stained/finished.  I have several colors and use whichever one most closely matches the spot I'm filling.  If necessary, I'll heat and mix two colors.