Frank Ford's technique for fixing fretboard divots: Add grain filler?

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Regarding Frank Ford's technique for fixing fretboard divots.

http://www.frets.com/fretspages/Luthier/Technique/Frets/FBoardDivot...

As a newb, I'd like to learn more about these things I'm reading here, all of which are impressive. The new way of filling divots seems downright miraculous. I suspect that the glue would make the filled spots even more resistant to wear than the rest of the fretboard.

I've also been reading about grain filler for the first time. Would I be correct in assuming that grain filler isn't added because it wouldn't penetrate the dried glue, which is already smooth and needs no filler?

[Jim Bancroft]

You don't need grain filler, just wood dust and glue is all that's needed. Fingerboards, either ebony or rosewood, do not have grain filler used, as they are not finished.

Jim

[Frank Ford]

I presume you're talking about paste wood filler, sometimes called pore filler.  It's a material suited for filling up the pores in the wood before finishing.  It has no structural strength at all, so it wouldn't be of use for filling imperfections in a fingerboard.  Ebony has such small pores that filling isn't possible, but rosewood could take a filler.  It's not commonly used, primarily because there's no surface coating applied to fingerboards.

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Thanks guys. I knew there had to be an answer that was obvious but not to me.