Carpentry and Woodworking - use wood putty??

I have a routed groove in the doors of my kitchen cabinets. I'd like to fill them in and then paint the cabinets. A friend of mine said that if I used wood putty, it would just pop out later...but of course he didn't tell me what I SHOULD use!

Any advice from anyone?? THANKS!!!

If you have access to a table saw, (carefully) cut some thin strips as close to the size of the grooves as possible. Wood glue them in place and fill the (now) much smaller gaps with the wood filler. Good luck.

Hi,
I saw a program the on cable where the fellow did a repair to an exterior door using Bondo, auto body putty. You might want to check the directions on a can of auto body filler to see if it says anything about the use on wood. You also might try to find the e-mail address of a body filler manufacturerand ask them if it would work.
good luck,
Trent

The Bondo folks package a wood filler product, but I suspect it is really nothing more than Bondo. Know the program you are talking about. Would Ron Hazelton lie to us?

MinWax makes a two part wood filler - fiberglass, probably plain old body filler at twice the price. Anyway, I've used this for years for odd repairs and it seems to work very well. Mix only as much as you can use in a couple of minutes - you have to work fast. Use a putty knife to work it into the groove and over fill slightly. Allow to set overnight (despite what they say on the can) and then sand flush starting with 100 grit paper to level it.

It's actually a very easy job if you are patient and take your time.

I use Bondo some and like it - but one warning.

Bondo will NOT adhere to a finished surface. It bonds well with raw wood, but not to any finish I've ever used.

THANKS to all of you for replying!! I really appreciate the advice and will conquer this project!