"Tom Watson" wrote:

Does anyone know of a reliable filler that can be used in things like
a chair frame where the holes are cut close to the outside of the
wood?
snip

Depends on how much screwing around you are willing to do.

First you need to get a good bond between the wood fibers and the
filler.

You do that by mixing up some laminating (low viscosity) epoxy and
brushing it on all the raw wood fibers in the dowel hole.

I'd use a plumber's acid brush for this part of the process.

Allow a few minutes for the epoxy to penetrate the wood fibers and
hopefully start to "kick".

Now apply your epoxy "filler", "fairing putty", etc, and allow to
cure.

Fairing putty is nothing more than laminating epoxy thickened with
micro-balloons.

The laminating epoxy bonds to the wood fibers, the fairing putty bonds
to the epoxy.

Make sure the dowel holes are rough so the wood pores are open and can
accept the epoxy.

Take a look at the System3 web site.

Think they have just introduced some filled epoxies aimed specifically
for the wood worker market.

Have fun.

Lew