Filler in German carve area for Pine body

[Jim Sams]

Guys, I have a Pine "Tele-Backer" body and the groove routed out for the german carve has low spots where the grain is softer.
Can I just use Spackle to level it up or some other filler? I assume I will use a piece of heater hose as a sanding block for this area.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I would use bondo if it will be an opaque finish. If its transparent I would try to sand it out, clear epoxy or Zpoxy would be moderately good fillers but you are still going to see it.

 

[old wrench]

Drywall "spackle" is just too soft, and you'd probably have the same problem when sanding it - the areas filled with spackle would sand much easier than the rest of the wood, and most likely lead you back to the same problem you are trying to solve

Since you've considered using spackle, I'll guess that you are planning on using an opaque finish.

Freeman's suggestion to use bondo would work much better -

Bondo can be shaped somewhat before hardening, and if you can work it before it reaches full hardness, it's very easy to sand or even "scrape" to shape

If you can find or make a scraper that corresponds to the radius of your carve, you can do a lot of the shaping by scraping

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[Jim Sams]

Would the Minwax "Wood HArdner" toughen up the soft grain enough to sand it flat? The German Carve area is sort of like a rift cut as far as the grain goes.

 

[poolshark]

IMO/IME, provided you're careful with the sandpaper, spackle or compound is fine in this application. I've tried it once or twice.

 

[Timbresmith1]

Evercoat (better than bondo, imo) or plaster of Paris.

 

[old wrench]

Evercoat (better than bondo, imo) or plaster of Paris.

For sure!

I switched over to Evercoat a good 20 years ago

I like Evercoat "Rage" - it sticks to wood (and metal) really well, feathers right down to nothing, and ya can sand it in 15 or 20 minutes

It sands quite a bit easier than some of the other fillers I've used too



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[stratisfied]

At the risk of being too logical, wood finishing companies devote a lot of R$D to develop simple products that work. This product sands easily, doesn't shrink and accepts stain just like wood.