FoggyTown wrote:
If I have to use filler (even a little bit) am I a failure?

Depends... Is your goal to have fun making functional furniture, or to
make flawlessly beautiful furniture without any filler?
In my opinion, one of the main problems with filler is when it's used
to fill in a gap in a joint or a crack, and then when the wood moves,
it leaves a ragged crack in the filler that I find distasteful. Not
that my joints are perfect, but I'd rather fill gaps with a sliver of
veneer or something if possible. Of course using filler to cover up
your brad nails because you're taking shortcuts is a different matter
- but again, that gets back to your goals for woodworking.

If the spot to be filled is not visible, and not structural, why fill
it at all? If it's only slightly visible, I don't see (no pun
intended) a problem with a little bit of filler. If it's a structural
gap that needs filling, say, in an important joint, I'd try to either
glue in real wood (i.e. a toothpick, veneer, small wedge, etc.) or use
epoxy with wood dust or something else that's really solid (NOT
gorilla glue, even though that foams up and appears to fill gaps).

Well, that's my 2 cents...
Andy