Filling Blemishes or Flaws in Your Wood

Sorry for not posting for so long. Every weekend since July 4, I have been out of town working on my daughters' home improvement projects! The deck is coming along - no more broken windows so far! And I actually fixed a crooked door frame unit on my other daughter's remodeling project; so I feel pretty happy with that accomplishment.

I just learned a new trick from Woodworker's Journal that may help you if you're working on a painted wood project where there is a wood knot or a flaw in your wood. (When you put paint over those types of blemishes, they almost always show through.) Here's the trick for filling and hiding that flaw:

1. Sprinkle baking soda on to the flawed area. Then take a putty knife and smooth the baking soda across the flawed area. You'll see the low points fill with the white baking soda.
2. Push the excess baking soda aside, leaving the white residue on your wood.
3. Next, take some cyanoacrylate (CA) glue, and drip it onto the areas that show up as white on your piece of wood. It will darken the wood, but since you're going to paint over it, don't worry about that. Let the glue cure and harden.
4. Take some fine sandpaper and smooth the area to your satisfaction. Wipe off the sanding residue. You're now ready to paint, and the blemish from the wood knot won't show through!

I'm sure you probably figured this out already, but if you intend to do a natural wood look, with stain and varnish, this is NOT a viable solution!