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Elmer's Wood Filler MAX

7.4K views 29 replies 10 participants last post by  hdavis  
#1 ·
"Oh cool, they've rebranded to sound extreme."

That's what I thought to myself when I bought this.

What is this granulated baby poop colored nonsense and what have you done with my wood filler?

We'll see how this sands out tomorrow, but as of now, I'm angry! Oh baby am I angry!

Ok, I'm not really angry. What gives with this stuff though? Am I going to be angry for reals tomorrow?
 
#3 ·
The point is to fill minor imperfections before final sanding, no?

Why are you putting sand in it? Makes it difficult to stuff sand into a joint that's smaller than the width of a grain of sand. I had to keep going back and working it to get a good smooth spread.
It also made crowning the stuff really difficult. It's like they expect you to always scrape it off totally flush.
How much pull does this forum have? Elmer, are you hearing me!? hah
 
#4 ·
They've reformulated it twice now. They went from Elmers Carpenters putty which had an indoor outdoor rating to Stainable putty which only had an indoor rating. It had wood particles in it that were suppose to make it stainable, it sucks. It's not smooth like it should be. Now they came up with this tough stuff, suppose to hold screws. That's not what putty is for. It's for filling small holes quickly.

They need to bring back the original. And now.
 
#5 ·
#9 ·
Looks like Lowe's has it. HD sure doesn't
 
#15 ·
I get upset when my joints are bigger then .002". I don't use much putty either.
 
#20 ·
Thin it a bit with water and use a pallet knife, works like a charm. Still hate the Max crap It is readily available and great for mixing colors to match wood. Walnut in particular. I hate light fills in the dark grain and vise versa. :whistling Have used it frequently.
 

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#21 ·
I'm ready to finish my review.

I would use this stuff again if I had to repair a dent in a barn door. However, I wouldn't repair a dent in a barn door, so I guess that means I'm throwing this crap out.

Elmer's, please cease and desist putting chunks in your wood fill. It makes it really annoying to fill the wood.
After sanding I was left with deep gauges caused by the granular parts being dragged by the knife. Now I have to go back a second time to smooth those areas with a different fill. That means my time was completely wasted last night. That sucks.
 
#24 ·
Does it accept stain nice. That's what I liked about the original. As long as you didn't let it dry for a week, it would accept stain easily. I used it as a grain filler on a white oak job. It was $8 a quart. Now they want $6 for a measly pint.
 
#27 ·
I like the regular Elmers filler. No major complaints using it.

I also used Bondo for wood on 11 door slabs that a customer wanted the knobs higher. Bondoed all 11 strike plates and repainted the jambs. Looks great 2 years later.