Replies

1. 
   pita | May 02, 2008 05:54am | #1

   Hip,

   go ahead and stain the pine the color in which you are using.  Let that piece dry over night then go ahead and sand it.  Now when it comes to sanding first clean out the sanding port or your sander (the filter which catches the saw dust).  When it comes to sanding, use a fine sandpaper (150 or 220)  Collect the sawdust...  Now using a 5 minute epoxy which dries clear add the saw dust which you collected, now use that epoxy as the filler.  Note: when you added the sawdust to the epoxy only so much the epoxy will accept, blow the rest away.

   Now, to minimize the sanding of the epoxy, tape the area off with painters tape (blue or green).  This does two things, first minimizes the area which needs to be sanded secondly, the thickness of the tape lets you over fill the crack.  Now the piece of pine has color added to it, don't panic because when you apply the stain everything blends in.

   You can also tent epoxy with fine sawdust.

2. 
   peter28 | May 02, 2008 04:01pm | #2

   Hippster,

   I don't know if you meant this question for me or for Knots.

   If it were me I would skip the epoxy treatment. I always found it to be a pain in the ####. If you get too much on and don't sand it properly, it will size the surrounding areas and the stain will be spotty.

   A very easy way is to do your staining, seal your wood as required and then sand the sealer. Here's is where the colored putty sticks come in handy. You can get any and all colors you need from HomesteadFinishing.com or Woodworkers Supply.

   Get a match for the LIGHTEST part of the wood, not the darkest. Some of the sticks are quite hard. I'll run them under hot water to soften them as needed. You can combine colors also.

   Put them in the nail hole and flush them off. Your thumbnail will work well for this. You can also use a dull tool of some sort.

   You can stand back and see if the color is acceptable to you. If the hole is large, after you fill it you can add a grain line or two to connect the dots if required. This would be done using some of the pigment from your stain and what is called a "dry brush".

   Proceed with your finish.

   In my opinion, you'll have far more control.

   Good luck.

   Peter