Bondo Vs. Wood Epoxy?

ozzman8

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Im doing my first restoration and Ive seen alot of people on here use bondo, which is great. But I was just searching around doing some research on wood restoration and stumbled upon a wood restoration brand called Abatron, which is a wood epoxy. I just wanted to know some more about this and what the difference would be from this to bondo, and why so many people on here use bondo. Here a quick tube link on Abatron wood epoxy. Please share your opinions Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnkLglK6JCs
 
I used a wood filler from Lowes on my cab resto. I too have often wondered why people use automotive body filler on here for their wood work. Why not use products made for... wood work? Body filler is made for sheet metal work.

I've done automotive sheet metal work with filler, and wood work. Choose the correct product for the job I say.
 
I think if you ask the guys that do many of these restorations, they use Bondo because it is a lot tougher. I could be wrong but that's what I've used to do a couple of mine. You can reform missing pieces if you had to. Especially on the bottoms of cabs.
 
Bondo is used in woodworking. Some of the 'wood epoxy' sold is pretty much the same thing as Bondo, just packaged differently.
 
I thought it was mentioned that bondo doesn't react thermally (expansion/contraction) so it won't crack once cured, but wood filler does.
 
Bondo is used in woodworking. Some of the 'wood epoxy' sold is pretty much the same thing as Bondo, just packaged differently.

That is so true.
My first job was at a furniture manufacturer.
The cabinets and everything else was wood that was painted.
It was first prepped,primed,final sanded and then painted.
We used bondo to repair corner damage and big dents.
We also used spackle to fill small pin holes on the non high gloss surfaces.
All the tops of the cabinets,door fronts and pedestals had a totally smooth and high gloss finish,
so bondo was used on those surfaces because spackle would react with the paint.
Those cabinets were a bitch to paint since you had to lay enough paint to flow smooth,without and texture,but not run it over the edges.
I painted a bunch of stuff that was supposed to be used in a Star Wars movie but there was too much reflection problems with the studio lighting that they couldn't use it.:(
 
I too have often wondered why people use automotive body filler on here for their wood work.
I don't know that they do... There's a bondo specially made for wood:

bondo_wood_filler.jpg
 
Bondo is just a name brand.
The stuff used in auto repair is polyester based filler.
Not sure about the wood filler,never seen it before.
 
I heard automotive filler (bondo) will eventually pop out of place or crack if applied to wood. The reason is because bondo will not expand or contract and the wood will. I've never seen this or know anyone who this has happened to, however I've read it somewhere a long time ago.

I'm very interested in this thread, because I have some restoration to do and bondo would be a perfect option to go with as long as it holds. Anyone ever have any issues like this?
 
Bondo is the way to go. Another option that Cabinet cosmetics freaks use is a marine epoxy (the two part type you mix like a Steel Epoxy or JB Weld or other). Wood filler cracks. It is ok if it is on the side of the cabinet that nobody touches ever but if it is at the cabinet (Vid) corners or Pinball (with vibrations and all), I have used Bondo many times instead....
 
I heard automotive filler (bondo) will eventually pop out of place or crack if applied to wood. The reason is because bondo will not expand or contract and the wood will. I've never seen this or know anyone who this has happened to, however I've read it somewhere a long time ago.
?

I would think if that was true then it wouldn't work too well on cars.
The metal on cars expands and contracts from the extreme temperature changes they experience.
 
I heard automotive filler (bondo) will eventually pop out of place or crack if applied to wood. The reason is because bondo will not expand or contract and the wood will. I've never seen this or know anyone who this has happened to, however I've read it somewhere a long time ago.

I'm very interested in this thread, because I have some restoration to do and bondo would be a perfect option to go with as long as it holds. Anyone ever have any issues like this?

That would probably be true on solid wood, which does 'move' with temperature and humidity. MDF, particle board, and to a lesser degree, plywood, are much more dimesionally stable. This would probably never be an issue, especially since Bondo vs arcade cabinets nearly always involved particleboard.
 
nice. I now know how to fix a few things on my cab I'm working on. Thanks a bunch guys!

Keep in mind there's a point where you need to cut a piece out and stitch a new piece of like material in instead of Bondo. I wouldn't 'fill' a really big chunk or mess of an area. Much easier to replace with real wood, then use Bondo to fill in the seam.
 
I have used bond to repair old house doors where the glass door knobs ate the wood away so thin it broke out. It was the only thing strong enough to support the weight and use of the door knobs. It is a lot harder than wood filler to sand and get straight, but it is sure strong
 
Probably the biggest issue with wood filler is that being a single part product, the cure time is lengthy and the product often shrinks as it out-gasses during the cure. It's a poor choice for filling any deep area, which the directions usually point out.

Wood filler is good for small stuff like nail heads where a stain coat is being used, for anything bigger than that, two part fillers like Bondo are the way to go. You can also use the old school trick of saw dust and wood glue, but only for painted finishes.
 
I've used the wood Bondo for repairs to two particle board Atari cabinets (Crystal Castles and a System II).

Both were major repairs (a whole front corner in one case). The wood Bondo contains wood fibers and is very strong; you can drill and tap it. I sanded and painted it and it still looks great, even after being moved a couple times and holding weight. One repair is now 8 years old, and spent four of those years sitting in an unheated storage unit that got to over 100F in the summer and down to the single-digits in the winter.

No cracking. No splitting. No paint-peeling or other issues.
 
So I guess this is a no brainer.. Ive already started to use bondo.. Its kinda hard to shape the corners and base before it drys and gets clumpy.
 
Use less hardener. If it's hardening before you can do basic shaping it's got too much. As it hardens use a razor blade to rough cut to shape, then sand it to be exact.
 
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