Wood filler question

Paully

Hi all, first post here and I hope it's OK to be asking, as the two related threads I found are 7 years old.

I'm fairly experienced with repairs but have never had to put filler on a body. My 12 year old daughter is getting into repairs and has been given a solid body electric which has some too deep for superglue dings. The advice in the previous threads is to use car body filler as wood filler can shrink. Is this still the current thinking? I know formulae can change and things can improve, but what is your preferred filler, wood or car body, and any particular brand? Thanks.

Roland

It depends on the size and width of the crack. If it’s too wide for CA glue then my first though is to push fine wood dust, from sanding, into the crack followed by CA. Next up is sawdust, or coffee grounds if you haven’t got saw dust. For anything larger, including knot holes, I use two part filler wood filler. I can’t remember the brand, probably Ronseal.

TheMadMick

The Ronseal stuff is polyester just like car body filler. I've used it on outdoor wood and it's fine although it takes quite some sanding down and it's really difficult to get a smooth surface like the professionals seem to be able to. Patience is key.

xGizmo

For larger dings i'll use baking soda and CA/Super glue, instant plastic & can be built up, but be aware that iit will get quite hot as it reacts so keep your digits well away (burning and gluing your fingers together is not fun....dont ask)

BillDL

I mix very fine sawdust with ordinary white PVA wood glue until it's fairly thick but still "smearable" into the slightly dampened hole. I normally bring it just about level with the surface so that when it shrinks a little bit I should have a very shallow dip to drop-fill with superglue or even lacquer.  It's a whole lot easier to sand sawdust/PVA glue if it ends up being proud of the surface than most other fillers.

Paully

Excellent guys, thanks. Some food for thought, that's what I needed to know.

We started on the guitar last night with an assessment of what work and parts were needed. I'm wanting to teach her to view things from the starting point of having a structure and a plan to what she does, and how to keep a record of costs and work done. So I got her a notebook and had her write PPPPPP across the top of the first page, which she thought was hilarious when I told her what it stood for, "daddy did you just swear?!!" And, very early on we found that the truss rod nut is seized so we may not even get to the filler stage now, I'll get some WD40 on it today and see if it's recoverable.

ElectricXII

Good luck with the repair. Personally I would sparingly use 3-in-1 oil on the truss rod nut, rather than WD40. Try not to get too much on bare wood.

elstoof

Ronseal 2 part, goes off quickly and sets hard, you can sand it and get on with the job in no time

BillDL

A guitar is only as good as the functionality, or lack of functionality, of the truss rod.  On two occasions in the past I jumped the gun by ordering new parts and starting to work on frets only to discover the truss rod didn't work.  You would think that after the first time I wouldn't have made the same mistake again, but we are human.  I've just had to desolder a jack socket that I connected to the wires hanging out the control cavity because I was daydreaming and forgot to push the wires through the channel to where the socket is mounted first.

DartmoorHedgehog

Paully said:

So I got her a notebook and had her write PPPPPP across the top of the first page.

Ha! I haven't heard that for a couple of decades, since the times when I was seriously into model car racing - "Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance" - brought back some good memories

Good luck with the project.