Refilling holes in wood?

[pontifex]

I have an 8" Orion Intelliscope. Last night one of the feet broke off the base. I think it was from em sliding the base around. The hole is too big for the screw to fit in anymore.

I was wondering if there is some kind of material that will allow you to fill in the hole and then reinsert the screw at the same place? The base seems to be made of particle board or something like that (sort of like what cheap desks are made of).

If not, I'll just have to screw it into the wood a bit below the original hole. this shouldn't cause any balance issues.

 

[voodoochylde]

Wood putty could do the job but I dunno how long it would last. You could also try inserting enough toothpicks into the enlarged hole to make the screw tight. Just break 'em off flush.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Take a tooth pick, put some glue on it (preferably wood glue), insert it into the hole. Then just screw the foot into the hole letting the toothpick take up the extra space.

Yes, I'm serious.

 

[jme5343]

If a toothpick is too small, you can use a small dowel rod. They can be found at most hardware stores, and sometimes in the craft section at Wal Mart.

 

[AlienCraft]

OR, you could use a few drops of epoxy, worked up into the hole real good.

 

[911paramedic]

Use good quality wood filler, it's actually sawdust mixed with epoxy. Or you could add a metal plate with threads where the hole is.

 

[alkemyst]

some people googled too quick. It's not just one toothpick it's about putting wood glue on several and then filling the hole with them. You want to tap the last one in but not so hard it splits the piece. This works really well for door jambs.

Once it dries you can sand it, redrill it and have wood that is usually stronger than the original door jamb wood.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Ummm, I didn't google. I just said what I've done. The number of toothpicks will vary by the size of the hole and how stripped. In the ones I've done, one was enough.

Edit:
I didn't re-drill. Just used the toothpick to take up extra space.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Ummm, I didn't google. I just said what I've done. The number of toothpicks will vary by the size of the hole and how stripped. In the ones I've done, one was enough.

Edit:
I didn't re-drill. Just used the toothpick to take up extra space.

that puts the screw off center still. For any screw a pilot hole should be drilled unless it's very thin.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Well, the screws were being used to hold in the back of an ikea-esque desk. In the case of the OP, it's just a foot. All he needs it to do is not fall off.

 

[JDMnAR1]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Ummm, I didn't google. I just said what I've done. The number of toothpicks will vary by the size of the hole and how stripped. In the ones I've done, one was enough.

Edit:
I didn't re-drill. Just used the toothpick to take up extra space.

Agreed - toothpicks work great.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

I busted a tuning machine off the headstock of my guitar once -- ripped the screws right out of the wood. I just filled the holes with some wood filler and the screws went right back in. I had heard also that toothpicks work well, but my holes were pretty f-in' tiny. I didn't want to futz with re-drilling anything, so wood filler was just the thing.