Letters
It’s been great fun hearing from you. Below are some of the letters I’ve received.
If you have specific questions about my Water Putty (e.g., Where can I buy it? Will it work in a particular application?), please use the “Contact Form” on this Web site to reach the nice people who own and operate DURHAM’S. That’s why it’s important for you to include a phone number so they can respond directly.
I am just tickled. Over the past couple of months, a number of requests have come from a variety of inventors and testers from around the world. Maybe someday, you will find my Water Putty on athletic courts, in electronics goods, in the toy box, and in a variety of other places I couldn’t even dream of when I was just a kid. Keep experimenting!
And now, on to the mail…
“My dad has a can of your water putty that he got about 25 years ago from Abbe Lumber in New Jersey before I was even born. I needed wood filler for an art project I was working on and he dug up the can from the garage, and 25 years later it worked like a charm. It not only filled the holes I needed, it sanded down easily and smoothly. In short, thanks for making such a long-lasting, high-quality product. It really saved me a lot of work for this project!”
– Ariell Horowitz
Its always a great pleasure to hear from our satisfied customers such as yourself. Since Durham’s has sold steadily for nearly 80 years, we are well aware that folks are using our Rock Hard Water Putty for a wide variety of projects… but seldom do we hear about their successful completion and the part that Durham’s played in getting the job done well! I also particularly like hearing from our users who have had some Durham’s passed down from generation to generation. Thanks for using our product, and I hope that your success will encourage you to look for new uses for it to help you out in your projects. Return to top.
“I was just using some rock hard [Durham’s Water Putty} on 2×6 patching knots. I was looking over the can and thinking that this was the one product my Father used for all my life! There is not one other thing I can think of that I still use today. My Dad started me wood working when I was 10 or 11. I remember that can was always around. And he used it for all repairs. We mix it with wood glue and it gets hard as glass it seems. Trick my Dad taught me 50 years ago. Thanks for one of the greatest products of all time and the bond between my Dad and Me.”
– Byron Manley, son of Dr. Charles A. Manley, my original Rock Hard Man!
What a great tribute to your father and Durham’s Rock Hard Water Putty. It’s wonderful to hear how my Water Putty can bond people as well as wood. Return to top.
“I have been both using and selling your product for well over thirty years. It has done everything that you advertise. I have drilled, sanded, painted, glued and more. I have used it to patch wooden items, walls and even fences. Thanks for providing a superior product at a great price.”
– Alan Coonan, Arizona
Thanks, Alan, for the nice comments. DURHAM’S ROCK HARD Water Putty is indeed a superior product and we intent to keep making it for you for at least another thirty years. Return to top.
“Obviously you’re well aware that your product is spectacular, but I just thought I’d remind you. I bought your product the first time just because it sounded good with “no shrinking” and “ROCK HARD” on the label. I used it to fill the cavities in old fashioned doors that took skeleton keys. I had a bunch of these doors in my house but the replacement guts were prohibitively expensive. Putting in modern doorknobs seemed a cheap way out, but what to do about the huge void? I tried your product on one door to see if it’d do the trick and what do you know, it was like a solid section of door again.
“Actually it was harder than the original wood. I used a belt sander on both sides and the edge, drilled the holes for the new doorknobs, painted the doors, installed new knobs and presto, the doors looked like they came that way. That was 12 years ago and nothing has changed. It still looks like it did when I first did the job. Since then I use it whenever a job calls for it and am always happy. The last time I ran out, though, it took me awhile to find it. I was worried that it wasn’t being made anymore!
“Please continue making this product forever!”
– Thanks, Ron H., Satisfied Customer
Ron, thanks for reminding us that DURHAM’S ROCK HARD Water Putty is spectacular – not that we would every forget such an important fact. And rest assured, we’ll continue making it as long as you continue buying it. Return to top.
“I have just about finished with the 4-pound can of DURHAM’S Water Putty that I purchased at Garden City Hardware, Cranston, R.I. back in 1951.
“Yes, that is 1951.
“I used to be able to read the price stamp, but it is no longer visible. I think it was $2.15. I have used it all these years for little wood repair jobs, like the restoring of the antique carved mirror that recently fell to the floor.
“Can you use the empty can for anything?”
– Len W.
Sure Len! We’ll add the can to our “vintage water putty collection.” It’s great to know that DURHAM’S has served you so well for the past fifty years. I guess you’ve been lucky not having too many big repair jobs since this can lasted so long! We’ll look forward to hearing from you in another 50 years or so when you are ready for another can!
P.S. DURHAM’S water putty will work after an extended period of time – in this case, 50 years, but it may lose some of it’s strength. Return to top.
“I just don’t feel right if there’s not a can of DRHWP around the house. When I was working, I used it to fill holes and patch things at companies that made trade show and commercial displays, and items for the interior design trade. That could be anything from patching theater type sets before painting, to repairing defects in large pottery, wood, or cast concrete objects. At home, I have used it to recreate a damaged portion of an antique picture frame, fill rubber candy molds to make novelty gift items and refrigerator magnets, and for all sorts of art projects and household repairs. I’ve colored the putty itself before molding with small amounts of paint, as well as painted the objects when hardened. You cannot see the repaired area in the antique picture frame, nor any of the other patching and repair work.
“Sometimes I add a bit of water soluble glue like white glue or wood glue to the mix if I want to use it on a flat surface and that helps keep it from popping off. Experimentation with this material is fun…I once filled a rubber glove with it, and kept the resulting “hand” around the shop at work for no particular reason, other than it was a good conversation piece. Suggested uses for it by the other employees were unending, of course, but I think someone eventually took it home to use as a place to put their rings when they were not wearing them.”
– Cindy S.
Awesome note, Cindy! You sound like a very creative person, and I have a special place in my not so ROCK HARD heart for stories like yours. Keep experimenting. Keep having fun with my putty. And keep letting us know about your latest uses and creations. Return to top.
“I have been using “water putty” for over 30 years. I still have a can without the bar codes. I have some nuts and screws in the can.
“Now for the reason of this note.”Several years ago I found out that you can color the “putty” with colored markers. I have some that are the same color of the Red Oak that I build furniture out of. As you know the oak can sometimes have knots that have cracks in them. I fill the knot cracks with the “putty” and then color it the same color as the original knot. If I then stain the piece of furniture, the patch matches exactly.
“I am in the process of building my grandsons chest of drawers. My son provided the red oak. The oak is from a saw mill and has been kiln dried. The wood is probably rated #3. Has loose knots and quite a few checks. Your DURHAM’S ROCK HARD Water Putty to the rescue. I have filled all of the knots, colored them and I know from experience that you won’t be able to see the patches. I fill the holes before I plane the wood.
“I know that this works, because I have been doing it several years. I hope that the new markers are as good as the markers that I have had for several years. Have not tried the markers from the only place available in my area.
– “Thanks again for a great product,” Clarence
PS: “Yesterday I told a customer at the local lumber yard how I used the product. He then put away the several cans of wood putty he had in his basket, and picked up a can of DURHAMs.”
Is that cool, or what! Thanks for the nice note, Clarence … and I hope your grandsons enjoy the handmade chest. I know handmade furniture was a highly regarded gift in our house. Return to top.
“We love DRHWP! We try to use it every day but sometimes we go home sad, knowing that we failed to find a new use for “Rocky”. In our work (designing toys and building prototypes of the toys that Santa brings to the good boys & girls at Christmas) we find that it is often “Rocky Time” when none of the other epoxies, polyesters and nasty smelling synthetics will do.”
– Thanks, Ralph B. and John M. at Design Lab, Rhode Island
“We are for REAL and not pulling your leg(s)!!!”
Ha! Ralph and John are real kidders, aren’t they? Of course I have 2 legs. Oh sure, they are 2-D legs, but two legs have I none-the-less. I must admit, however, I’m a little disappointed because I’m a “last resort.” Alas, you come to me after the synthetics fail.
You know, “Rocky Time” can be anytime, day or night. When you first wake up, morning break, lunch, as soon as you get home. Try putting “Rocky Time” first and see if your toys don’t last longer. If you think real hard, but not too hard, you’ll find other ways to use me. Just look what another Water Putty user had to say… Return to top.
“I just wanted to thank you for making such a wonderful product. I work as a sales clerk at a lumberyard, and most of our customers buy your product to patch holes and cracks in the lumber. A while back, me and my children were doing some paper maché, and we used some DURHAM’S ROCK HARD Water Putty. The objects we were making had very nice, smooth, hard, plastic-like surfaces. They turned out really nice! I have since passed this information on to some of our female customers and our water putty sales have tripled! I never would have imagined what a difference “word-of-mouth” could make, but your water putty made a believer out of me!”
– c.j.
We greatly appreciate your testimonial to your customers. We’ve always thought that water putty was a good material for hobbyists, crafters, and artists and you’re living proof that it is so.
I appreciate the e-mail and hope to see more of it. Many of you write and ask me to sell it on-line. Although that is a good idea, I’ve spent decades building up relationships with a variety of distributors around the world and I don’t want to damage the goodwill we have developed. You can find my water putty at many home improvement centers, lumberyards, craft stores, hobby shops, and hardware stores. Next time you visit one of these places, just ask for Rocky’s Water Putty.
In the meantime, happy puttying!!
