Searcher7 wrote:
Is it ok to use wood filler to skim coat a particle board surface
before sanding, priming and painting?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

It depends on the filler I guess but most anything that adheres decently
could be used. Even drywall mud. Yes, drywall mud. I can think of nothing
that sands any easier.

There are two general types of drywall mud: setting and drying. The setting
type comes in a powder to mix with water; the powder is calcium sulfate -
gypsum (aka "plaster") - and it binds chemically with the water' once dry,
it cannot be dissolved again with water. The drying type comes pre-mixed in
a bucket. It is just fine calcium carbonate with starch as a binder; once
dry, it can be "melted" again with water. The fact that drying type DWM is
absorbent means that anything you use as a top coat will soak into it
further binding it.

The only worry I would have - and it is a minor one - in using water base
DWM on particle board is the fact that particle board and water don't play
well together; however; water base paint is used on particle board all the
time. If the PB swells from DWM the problem is easily solvable by giving
the PB a coat of whatever first.

I note that people have recommended both Zinsser B-I-N and Bondo. Either
would work well too but a bucket of DWM is cheaper and will cover a lot more
than a gallon of B-I-N; it is MUCH cheaper than a gallon of Bondo and will
also cover much more. Bondo is talc with polyester resin as a binder; it
sets when a catalyst (supplied) is mixed with it. I like Bondo and use it
but even though it sands relatively easily it is much harder to sand than
DWM.

Speaking of talc, I often use it mixing it with lacquer as a binder. I
don't generally use it all over, more as a putty to fill dings. Once
painted, it is good inside or out.

--

dadiOH
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