System Three Sculpwood Epoxy Putty

[WarriorOfMetal]

I did a less-than-perfect routing job on the body of my first build. I'm planning to finish it in an opaque white finish, and I was curious if anyone had used this SculpWood stuff before, as a filler. the instructions suggest that you need an additional sealer beforehand for it to adhere properly, and it also says that stains will not work with it. normal primer and paint should be fine though, right? and is it likely that I'd really need to use the additional sealer for it to work with unfinished alder? it says on the package, "SculpWood will form a permanent bond to most rigid surfaces. Porous surfaces should first be coated with a low viscosity epoxy system such as RotFix. Use SculpWood to replace missing sections of window ssills, frames, furniture, or any wood structure. Use it to add new sections to already completed structures."

[WAK Guitars]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

[WarriorOfMetal]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

there are a few very small shallow spots that are more like nicks than holes, but are too deep to sand out. i want to use it more to clean up some sloppy routing for recessing cover plates

[Woodenspoke]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

there are a few very small shallow spots that are more like nicks than holes, but are too deep to sand out. i want to use it more to clean up some sloppy routing for recessing cover plates

Epoxy is a waste of money buy some Bondo used in autobody repair. Also sold as a wood filler, Smallest can you can find. Hardens in a few minutes so You can build up the coats and it allows you to scrape off high spots as it hardens, Bonds well with wood and easy to sand out. You can also use it to fill any mistakes in the body or joints or pot marks in the wood.

[WarriorOfMetal]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

there are a few very small shallow spots that are more like nicks than holes, but are too deep to sand out. i want to use it more to clean up some sloppy routing for recessing cover plates

Epoxy is a waste of money buy some Bondo used in autobody repair. Also sold as a wood filler, Smallest can you can find. Hardens in a few minutes so You can build up the coats and it allows you to scrape off high spots as it hardens, Bonds well with wood and easy to sand out. You can also use it to fill any mistakes in the body or joints or pot marks in the wood.

thing is, i've already got the SculpWood...when i bought it a few months ago, it didn't occur to me that there could be any potential issues. does anyone have any personal experience using this for guitars?

[Woodenspoke]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

there are a few very small shallow spots that are more like nicks than holes, but are too deep to sand out. i want to use it more to clean up some sloppy routing for recessing cover plates

Epoxy is a waste of money buy some Bondo used in autobody repair. Also sold as a wood filler, Smallest can you can find. Hardens in a few minutes so You can build up the coats and it allows you to scrape off high spots as it hardens, Bonds well with wood and easy to sand out. You can also use it to fill any mistakes in the body or joints or pot marks in the wood.

thing is, i've already got the SculpWood...when i bought it a few months ago, it didn't occur to me that there could be any potential issues. does anyone have any personal experience using this for guitars?

You should have mentioned you bought it in your original post. If it's similar to some of the epoxy fixes for rotted wood it should work fine. Just Bondo is a much cheaper product. I dont see the problem or any issues using it to fix mistakes. Learning to be a woodworker is first learning to fix your mistakes then learning to not make them in the first place.

Go for it but dont leave too much material to sand off; may take a while. I dont know how hard that material gets when it's fully cured.

[WarriorOfMetal]

How big is the whole you want to fill?

there are a few very small shallow spots that are more like nicks than holes, but are too deep to sand out. i want to use it more to clean up some sloppy routing for recessing cover plates

Epoxy is a waste of money buy some Bondo used in autobody repair. Also sold as a wood filler, Smallest can you can find. Hardens in a few minutes so You can build up the coats and it allows you to scrape off high spots as it hardens, Bonds well with wood and easy to sand out. You can also use it to fill any mistakes in the body or joints or pot marks in the wood.

thing is, i've already got the SculpWood...when i bought it a few months ago, it didn't occur to me that there could be any potential issues. does anyone have any personal experience using this for guitars?

You should have mentioned you bought it in your original post. If it's similar to some of the epoxy fixes for rotted wood it should work fine. Just Bondo is a much cheaper product. I dont see the problem or any issues using it to fix mistakes. Learning to be a woodworker is first learning to fix your mistakes then learning to not make them in the first place.

Go for it but dont leave too much material to sand off; may take a while. I dont know how hard that material gets when it's fully cured.

yeah, i was planning to be fairly conservative with whatever i use. most of the spots are on the body edges, which will be getting sanded down anyway. i figured i'd fill the holes and then use something to get most of the excess off before it hardens

[Woodenspoke]

There are so any epoxy products on the market today very hard for anyone to know all the different variations. I remember in the olden days they sold an epoxy clay like roll. looked like two colors the center being white the outside grey. You squeeze the two together and the two parts mixed made it harden.

I think you had at least 30 minutes with it before it set up or it may have been less time. But they were selling it as a pipe repair for leaks which I don't believe it helped stop. I think I see the guy who sold the Oxyclean products now selling a two part epoxy type putty which fixes everything. You know the infomercials, it works on everything, just didn't see the part about reattaching a broken headstock, LOL.

Again you have to use what you have. The only difference with Bondo is you can build it up fast, change the setup rate depending on how much hardener you add and as it sets up in just a few minutes you can use a wide putty knife to knock off any high spots. It is certainly not a one shot process because you have to build up layers to fill large holes. If you own your own home or boat you may want to hold onto that epoxy to repair your house or boat and use the cheaper Bondo for the guitar. I have used Bondo and epoxy together to fix rotted windows.

Anyway whatever you use let us know how it came out. NO need to answer my babbling

[jmrentis]

I think I see the guy who sold the Oxyclean products now selling a two part epoxy type putty which fixes everything. You know the infomercials, it works on everything, just didn't see the part about reattaching a broken headstock, LOL.

I saw this miracle substance and had to laugh a little. No doubt it will be quite useful in general use, but I couldn't get over how excited that damn guy got over the stuff. I can't be certain, but the name might be Mighty Putty. Cures cancer, helps you quit smoking, baby sits the kids and repair leaks, great stuff, lol. J

[soapbarstrat]

Looooong time ago, I used long dry epoxy/ hardwood dust mixture to fill some control pot holes I didn't like the location of. Worked great. years later, you can't tell where the filled holes were.

Also used fiberglass/resin to fill missing areas of badly shattered/beaten headstock. Also worked very well. Also used bondo one time on a junk body. Guess that worked well too, but as soon as someone offered me 50 bucks for that guitar, out she went.

[Flon Klar Guitars]

I think I see the guy who sold the Oxyclean products now selling a two part epoxy type putty which fixes everything. You know the infomercials, it works on everything, just didn't see the part about reattaching a broken headstock, LOL.

I saw this miracle substance and had to laugh a little. No doubt it will be quite useful in general use, but I couldn't get over how excited that damn guy got over the stuff. I can't be certain, but the name might be Mighty Putty. Cures cancer, helps you quit smoking, baby sits the kids and repair leaks, great stuff, lol. J

I work in mechanical maintenance, and I've been using these 2-part epoxy putties for years- they work great for many different uses. There's a version made expressly for wood repairs by Protective Coating Co., and I've used it on several guitars. It's a viable remedy to many "accidents."

[MiKro]

>snip< Bondo >snip<

I agree BONDO works great for many things including your problem. just remember to use a good primer on it as it will absorb some of your finish at a different rate than the wood, so to get an even finish use a good primer overall.

edited to add: one more thing about BONDO it expands and contracts to the material it is bonded to therefore reducing telltale cracks and crazes that show up with other types of fillers.

Just my .02 cents

MK

Edited February 3, 2008 by MiKro

[Robert Irizarry]

yeah, i was planning to be fairly conservative with whatever i use. most of the spots are on the body edges, which will be getting sanded down anyway. i figured i'd fill the holes and then use something to get most of the excess off before it hardens

Good idea being conservative with its application. Just a note - the System 3 guys make epoxy that's used for building boats and the stuff is FAR stronger than wood itself. In fact, it can fill significant gaps without a loss of strength.

Regards,

Robert

[Mattia]

Seriously, if you have questions about a specific epoxy, call the manufacturer. WEST and System3 usually can tell you more than you'd ever need to know about the application, and since both cater to wood boatbuilders, they know what it does with wood.

[Berserker]

+1 to the Bondo. Haven't used it for any outer cosmetics yet....just for filling in oops' that the router might leave behind in cavities. Works like a charm, but damn it smells.

Gil