Dried Wood Putty Question

[wally pasbrig]

I have several jars of wood putty that dried out. Is there a simple way to "reconstitute" the putty and get the natural moisture back into the putty? Hate to throw them out since I have used very little of some of the jars. Thanks in advance for your help. I know some of you woodworkers and veteran framers have a solution.

Wally

 

[Hobbes03]

Wally,

When I worked for a furniture manufacturer in my other life, we would use methyl ethyl ketone (M.E.K.) to bring putty back to life, as well as other uses.

This stuff is definately skull and crossbones but did the trick. Don't know where you can get it however.

Probably not much of a help eh?

-Mike.

 

[dakers]

re:reconstituting putty
I generally use the solvent listed in the highest amount on the side of the container. Any really good hardware store should have it readily available.

 

[Bill Henry-]

If you’re talking about the Amaco Nail Hole Filler, as a quick fix, you might try heating it a little with a shrink wrap/hair dryer. It melts fairly easily and while it’s still gummy in the tin, it spreads easily.

When it cools down again in the jar, it returns to its previous lumpy, hard rock state, but you can reheat it again. The pigments do not appear to separate during heating.

 

[Kevin Colbert]

Yes, heat it.

 

[negavert]

Failing the hair-dryer, if you have a break-room microwave, stick it in for 10-15 seconds. Although not at the same time as your burrito...

Or put it on a windowsill on a sunny day.