I drilled a 1/2" hole into a stained oak board and I want to fill it so that it's as minimally noticeable as possible. Here are the three options I've found so far:
- Wood putty. This means I'd have to stain the wood putty after it's dry, but I have no idea how to go about matching the stain since I bought the wood already stained.
- Insert a dowel into the hole, cut it off at the surface, sand, and stain. Again, though, I don't know how to match the existin stain.
- Mix saw dust from the wood I am patching with wood glue. Other people have said this was successful. It obviously wouldn't preserve the grain and would have to be stained again (provided that the hardened glue would allow for that).
- Use a plug cutter to create a plug out of the same wood that I am filling. I really like this idea, but I imagine this would be very difficult to pull off because I'd need to make sure I cut the plug perfectly level (ie, go straight down) so that the exposed surface of the plug is perfectly flush to the wood it's going into. I asked this question and am still waiting on a solution.
Overall, I like the plug option the best, but getting it straight could be a problem.
Any other solutions for filling a hole such as this?
Best Answer
Using a plug is your best option. Getting an exact match is pretty much impossible. A drill press is the tool of choice for a perfect plug if is conjunction with a good hole saw bit or plug cutting bit. If you can cut the plug from the same stained material in an out of sight location, this would save a lot of time. Color matching is tough to do. Keep in mind that nobody will be looking for the hole after you patch it like you do. You would be surprised how little people notice unless you point it out :)
Good luck.