Getting filler out of wood

[El Greyo]

Hello all

After many months of scraping, a wide variety of paint strippers, sanding and a hell of a lot of elbow grease we've removed pretty much all the paint from our beams in the living room. But on some beams, underneath the paint, the beautiful wood has been filled with some kind of wood or poly filler and in places it's deep into the grain and worm holes and nail holes and other nooks and crannies. We'd just prefer to have the wood on show as it is, defects and all. But the filler is very hard to remove and we've tried lots of methods including paint strippers, acetone, wire brushes etc. I don't know what kind of filler it is, just that it's very stubborn to remove.

Does anyone have any tips for removing a filler?

 

[Penners]

on some beams, underneath the paint, the beautiful wood has been filled with some kind of wood or poly filler and in places it's deep into the grain and worm holes and nail holes and other nooks and crannies.Does anyone have any tips for removing a filler?

I think it depends on how much patience you have. There is very little chance of any quick, magical solution to removing this filler. My son-in-law spent 18 months stripping every beam in his/my daughter's Norfolk farmhouse. He finally resorted to picking white filler out of cracks with a fine knife and out of wormholes with a pin! As you can tell, he is something of a perfectionist!

If you can't face doing that (and I know I couldn't!), then perhaps your only solution is to stain the filler to a rough match with the timber. Once its stark whiteness has been darkened down, I think you'll find that it's much less noticeable.

 

[LadyArowana]

Maybe slightly quicker than a pin would be a Dremel with a small drill or cutting bit.

 

[Penners]

Maybe slightly quicker than a pin would be a Dremel with a small drill or cutting bit.

I fear that would probably extract as much wood as filler, Milady.

 

[robgil]

If it is polyfiller 'cement away' will get rid of it however it is acidic and will need to be neutralized afterwards. I have resorted to this on a few of my beams and it didnt damage the wood at all. I used a small tooth brush and was very careful with it. Dilute is to the desired strength but dont use it neat.

Can you not live with the filler? Old beams will have old paint , filler etc on them and sometimes it can add to the character.

 

[worms]

Maybe slightly quicker than a pin would be a Dremel with a small drill or cutting bit.

I fear that would probably extract as much wood as filler, Milady.

It might, but a standard (Anobium) woodworm hole should be somewhere in the region of 1-1.5mm in diameter, so a 0.8mm or 1.0mm Dremel bit should be able to do the trick without removing any of the surrounding wood.

 

[Penners]

Always assuming that Senor Greyo is only infested by British Standard woodworm.

 

[Matt Green]

Always assuming that Senor Greyo is only infested by British Standard woodworm.

'Er Majesty's woodworm (gawd bless 'er)- finest woodworm you'll find anywhere. Makes you proud to be British.

 

[Penners]

'ear, 'ear! Confound her enemies by munching their rifle butts to dust!

 

[LadyArowana]

'ear, 'ear! Confound her enemies by munching their rifle butts to dust!

Ah, so the expression "keep your powder dry" isn't just for the ammo, it's to stop the vulnerable parts of the gun from becoming damp and therefore delicious for woodworm.

 

[Penners]

... as any fule no.

 

[El Greyo]

Ok, thanks for the replies. Sounds like there are no easy solutions and I will have to carry on with picking it out with knives/nails and that sort of thing.

I am a bit of a perfectionist so I will carry on picking at each bit. But some are incredibly hard and we may have to accept that they will be there to stay.

 

[El Greyo]

'Er Majesty's woodworm (gawd bless 'er)- finest woodworm you'll find anywhere. Makes you proud to be British.

Well, we were told that our house dates from the 17th century so some of the earliest holes may be due to His Lord Protector's finest republican woodworm.

But on the whole I think they are regulation standard issue British woodworm. Is there a Kennel Club for woodworm to set the standards? Probably should be called the Damp, Rotting Log Club or something.

 

[plasticpigeon]

Sounds like a very dull club, all the members will be boring.

 

[LadyArowana]

Sounds like a very dull club, all the members are boring.

For boring you need a civil engineer :lol:

 

[Penners]

Unfortunately that notorious Wikipedia entry was changed some years ago. But it used to read: "Boring - see Civil Engineers".

Apparently some engineers were quite uncivil about it.

 

[MdB]

Unfortunately that notorious Wikipedia entry was changed some years ago. But it used to read: "Boring - see Civil Engineers".

Apparently some engineers were quite uncivil about it.

It originated in the yellow pages. Unfortunately, it isn't any more (not that I've looked in a yellow pages for years)

 

[LadyArowana]

Unfortunately that notorious Wikipedia entry was changed some years ago. But it used to read: "Boring - see Civil Engineers".

Apparently some engineers were quite uncivil about it.

It originated in the yellow pages. Unfortunately, it isn't any more (not that I've looked in a yellow pages for years)

Yes I remember it, one of my lecturers at Uni who was from that faculty was indeed a slightly dull fellow and it was fun to leave the yellow pages in the departmental office open at the relevant page......