: I've seen a few references to Durham water putty as an alternative to epoxy
: mixtures for patching gaps. But I can't find it anywhere.

I can't help you with any logistics problems, as concerning the Durhams Water Putty. I can't find it here either.

: I tried some Elmer's Fill'n'Finish Wood Filler paste, but am not entirely
: satisfied with the results on some scrap strips. I got the light colored
: paste, to match the lighter eastern white cedar, figuring I'd darken it up
: with some WRC wood flour to get a better match for the mid-tone EWC and
: the darker WRC. It matches OK with the light & mid EWC, but I can't
: get it dark enough to use with the WRC. It is OK, but I'd like it a little
: darker. Mind you, this is all on the bare wood. I don't know yet how it
: will look under epoxy.

As with any putty/filler, you really HAVE to test it "wet-out" to see how it will look when finished. You can make any putty close to the wood color ( bare wood ) as you mentioned, but most or all of it will take on a darker color when wet. All putties/fillers take on more stain, or finish than the surrounding wood, for more reaons than time and patience permit to list here, and will, more often than not, be totally off color when finished. Give it a try and see what you get under some resin before making up your mind as to it's final color.

: Is the Durham putty any different? How dark a mixture can you get with
: Durham's. Is it available in Canada?

I would guess that you could color the Durhams with any of the water based stains to alter it's color. But it ofter isn't easy to match colors because it changes when a finish is applied.
When I mix fillers I will often mix up a big amount in the nuetral color and then divide it up and apply small drops of stain to each one and make up different shades. Then place a spot on some wood and let it dry. Sand enough to simulate your sanded finish on the boat, and then wet it to see what it comes out like.

In my opinion, one color does not fit all and with any wood, you will get variations in the same piece, as I'm sure you folks are used to with the WRC and others. Sometimes you will need 4 or 5 different shades to match up just one piece/project. A little extra work, but to get that really SPECIAL finish, that's what it takes.

: Another question. I have one joint between strips in the mid-tone EWC where
: the glue line is visible. It looks like it will finish (after epoxy) as a
: darker line than the surrounding wood, unlike the visible glue lines on
: the darker WRC hull, which appear lighter than the surrounding wood (I
: used regular Titebond for all stripping). I am debating whether to attempt
: to chisel out the glue line and make a patch, or whether the repair would
: wind up looking worse than the glue line. Any comments??

Sure, I've always got comments!!
Unless you are very adept with cutting out and fitting slivers of wood into that cut, you may end up with two glue-lines around that patch instead of the one line. Something to think about. It can be done and look very well, but, it's very meticulous work.
And another comment, and you knew I'd have one, is that:
If you DO make a perfect match of your patchwork, and hide the glue line, remember that you now have glue lines all over the boat, except that one little patched spot. It will show up just as if it were the other way around. Think of writing a big long explaination and under lining all of it with the exception of 3 or 4 words in a line. It will show just as easily as if you had written it all and only underlined those 3 or 4 words.

Unless the glue line mentioned is really nasty looking, I'd leave it alone other than trying to get a close match with the filler. It will still be there, but, so are all the other glue lines. ???

Food for Thouhgt!!

Rehd