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Which Wood Filler?


wombat

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Nothing is going to look like wood. So I countersink mine and put in wood plugs if I want to cover them.  On my canoes rubrails I leave them exposed.

 

I will ad that if you going to paint over it, Famowood filler.  I have digging it on out my Chris Craft and it is some good stuff!

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7 hours ago, Kudzu said:

Nothing is going to look like wood. So I countersink mine and put in wood plugs if I want to cover them.  On my canoes rubrails I leave them exposed.

 

I will ad that if you going to paint over it, Famowood filler.  I have digging it on out my Chris Craft and it is some good stuff!

Not only does this look best, but bungs installed with shellac, varnish or paint instead of glue are sealed, but still removable. I have even gone so far as to make a tool for removing bungs without damaging the hole so the fastener can be replaced and a new bung put in the old hole.    I keep some shellac in plastic containers that I have allowed to thicken just for this purpose.  These in the picture are done with shellac.  The bungs below the waterline are held in with red lead primer.

DSCN6971.JPG

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To remove a lightly glued bung, just use a screw. Drill a pilot hole in the bung, until you just touch the fastener head, then insert a screw and slowly twist it down. The tip will contact the fastener head and the threads will start to pull up the bung. Most of the time, especially if red lead or shellac, the bung will rise up cleanly, though sometimes and particularly if real glue is used, it'll split as it starts to rise up, but you can usually grap the bits with a needle nose and yank them out. Varnish also works well as a bung glue and it's better if the varnish is old and starting to thicken up a little.

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I find that you risk splintering around the hole when you use the screw method, even with no glue.  I chip away the center of the bung with my tool before trying to release it from the hole.  This way I can pull the sides in towards the center before I pry them out.  If I don't have any old varnish or shellac handy I purposely leave some uncovered and let some of the vehicle evaporate.  With shellac you can mix the skin back in instead of discarding it and it helps thicken the stuff up.  This is why I usually use shellac instead of varnish, not because I think it is better.

 

On a side note; archeologists found some 5,000 year old shellac in an Egyptian tomb.  They replaced the missing vehicle with fresh alcohol and the stuff was still perfectly usable. It's amazing how I can remember useless info yet make some mistakes several times before remembering the solution.  Maybe Paul is right and I am getting old.  ;-)

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I do something similar with the bung edges, but usually I just take a scribe or knife and carefully draw around the perimeter of the bung. It prevents the tear out and creates an ever so slight bevel on the edge, which gets filled with the next coating of whatever. I use to use shellac all the time, but no prefer stuff that's more solvent tolerant. I learned this on powerboat restorations, where oil and gas can and will get spilled on everything.

   You're not really old until your grandkids are in college or complaining about their own kids . . .

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On 1/27/2017 at 6:55 PM, Hirilonde said:

Not only does this look best, but bungs installed with shellac, varnish or paint instead of glue are sealed, but still removable. I have even gone so far as to make a tool for removing bungs without damaging the hole so the fastener can be replaced and a new bung put in the old hole.    I keep some shellac in plastic containers that I have allowed to thicken just for this purpose.  These in the picture are done with shellac.  The bungs below the waterline are held in with red lead primer.

DSCN6971.JPG

 

37 minutes ago, PAR said:

I do something similar with the bung edges, but usually I just take a scribe or knife and carefully draw around the perimeter of the bung. It prevents the tear out and creates an ever so slight bevel on the edge, which gets filled with the next coating of whatever. I use to use shellac all the time, but no prefer stuff that's more solvent tolerant. I learned this on powerboat restorations, where oil and gas can and will get spilled on everything.

   You're not really old until your grandkids are in college or complaining about their own kids . . .

Plugs and bungs are great when you have thick wood, but I'm working with stuff that is 1/2" thick. Not sure if they will work, which is why I asked about fillers. 

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2 hours ago, wombat said:

Plugs and bungs are great when you have thick wood, but I'm working with stuff that is 1/2" thick. Not sure if they will work, which is why I asked about fillers. 

The planks in the photo are 1/2".  It is a tight tolerance for countersinking for bungs, but with the right tool and careful adjustment it works.  I use this drill bit set from Fuller.   http://wlfuller.com/html/no__11_set.html  When adjusted properly it drills the pilot hole, clearance hole and countersink at the same time.  It includes a stop to keep from drilling too deep, adjusts to any length screw and includes the bung cutters need for both size counter sink holes.  Bits for .#6  through #14 screws included.

Edited by Hirilonde
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It just goes to show that no matter how much you know a good argument/discussion can teach anyone something they can use.  I will bung the bottom of my dory skiff with something besides shellac as the fuel tank will be resting on it and drools from the engine might make it there too.

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