The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Going Black & Freshening Up - Board Filling?

My 'bolt currently has oak bed boards, but the finish is in poor shape. I prefer to go to an original look, with black boards.

I've read previous threads that discuss what I should use on the finish, and I'm taking that advice.

My question concerns the wood preparation. I do not plan to remove it at this time. In the future I'll do a full wood/strip off restoration and use pine. My plan today is to sand the oak to achieve a uniform scuffed surface (it isn't cupped at this point) and remove any visible urethane flakes. But I have some minor lengthwise cracks. Can I just fill them with wood filler? After addressing the cracks, I'll go with the black exterior paint.

My concern is the temperature range: ~15 - 120.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Bill

btt

Bill, I made one reply and then read your post again and deleted what I had typed!!
Since you plan to paint it I think a GOOD filler, something with exterior properties, would be fine until you do what you plan later.
IF you were not going to paint it my response would be different.

Thanks for weighing in Alvin.

Can you give me a tip on the difference between "good" and what I'd probably buy at a box store? Should I use a Bondo-like product (2-part with catalyst) or a simply air-dry wood paste product? I'm a little concerned about the filler pulling away from the wood during thermal cycles. The cracks aren't big, probably around 0.030" wide at the most.

Bill

Maybe an exterior wood glue?

I'll probably go with a single-part typical wood putty. Heck, this isn't rocket science and it is a band-aid approach anyway.

Bill