John,

Another suggestion that I've seen mentioned on this board is to cut a piece of the wood that you are using so it is near the dimension of a pencil. Sharpen the piece in a pencil sharpener, put dab of glue on the sharpened end, stick the sharpened end in the hole and cut it off with a utility knife or chisel flush with the surface. Resharpen, dab,... repeat ad nausium.
Maybe those staple holes don't look so bad after all!!!

Ken

: John

: I think the best you will do is to take either splinters cut from the
: original wood, or possibly some of the round toothpicks and shove them in
: with a tad of glue and break them off and sand. You won't find anything
: else that will come as close without lots of bother and experimentation.

: If you choose to take this assignment, ..... Oh, heck just remember not to
: use too much glue or it will take over the hole and leave you with a
: colorless dot. Just put a tiny bit on the sliver and stick it. The
: epoxy/glass will be holding the thing in after coating. Hope that helps.

: Rehd