acceptable use of wood putty

[crowsmengegus]

Hi, I'm curious about general opinions of the use of wood putty or filler when repairing a DB. Does anyone think that there are acceptable uses? I'm not talking about something dumb like filling in a crack or an open seam, but more like using it to smooth surfaces a little for glueing.

If you say "NO WAY!", maybe give us some reasoning why not. Perhaps it becomes brittle with time or makes things harder to take apart? (Some of these things may be obvious to luthiers; I am not a luthier.)

Fire away!

[Jazzdogg]

I very seldom recommend "wood putty" to any of my furniture making students, and can't imaging the circumstances under which I'd recommend putty for a slab instrument with a clear finish, much less a DB; I'm eager to hear what our resident experts have to say on the subject. Perhaps I should make some popcorn.

[Cody Sisk]

I only use it to cut corners and fill gaps that don't support anything structural. This only applies to my rental stock. I'd never use it on anything of significance. In all other repairs, grafting on real wood is the only option.

[Rodger Bryan]

In terms of aesthetics, I would prefer to see slivers, chips or fitted grafts of wood glued into place w/HHG. The glued-in wood can be shaped and smoothed, and if you or the next repairman don't like the look of it, it is totally reversible.
Wood held together with hh glue is also much stronger than putty.

Important considerations here are: Will hide glue adhere to the fill?- you could practice on scrap first. Can you match the color enough to make it not look like poo? Is it a cheap instrument?

[crowsmengegus]

Originally Posted by Rodger Bryan

Important considerations here are: Will hide glue adhere to the fill?

I'm still a little curious about the above, especially over time. Thanks everyone for the opinions!

[Jake deVilliers]

Originally Posted by crowsmengegus

I'm still a little curious about the above, especially over time. Thanks everyone for the opinions!

Hide glue won't bond plastic filler to wood and if you're not using hide glue, you're probably not doing an appropriate, professional repair.

If you're soliciting opinions, here's mine: there's no excuse for using stuff like that, period. Pretty soon you'll be using screws to re-attach a loose fingerboard and bolts for a broken heel - then its right down the slippery slope to using bamboo shish kebab skewers for reinforcement instead of maple dowel...

Excavate some wood and trim and glue an appropriate piece of wooden patch - work it to shape - repeat as necessary. Edge repair like that is good training for more demanding work like sound post patches. You'll improve your woodworking skills which is what's needed here - leave the Bondo for Maaco.

[Cody Sisk]

If you want to do it right, this is how..

Before..

flickr

After..

flickr

Just like a Maaco commercial!

[bigolbassguy]

Originally Posted by Jake deVilliers

leave the Bondo for Maaco.

Wish I would have remembered this thread last week when working on a 1940 Kay bass. I could have included some informative pics. The edges had been repaired with bondo and looked just about as ugly and foolish as one would expect. Things like this are disappointing to see. Don't do it.