Grain filler

[Hitch]

I have seen the various shades of Liberon wax filler sticks.....

On various lighter woods, i have been using a carnauba wax stick, to good effect.
But on some darker timbers (walnut) i have used the same method, a good sanding, sanding sealer, then the wax stick. But i have ended up with tiny light specs in the open grain.

So my thinking, is to use the nearer shade of wax filler stick, then the carnauba stick over the top....

Am i barking up the wrong tree with this idea.....?

 

[marcros]

They are for filling scratches and defects aren't they, rather than grain? I may be wrong, that is what I have used them for

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

I'm thinking end grain, would I be correct? I use a Cap'n Eddie trick of soaking the rough grain in teak oil then taking very light cuts. The shavings come off as slurry.
Apparently the teak oil makes the fibres stand up. I've had varying degrees of success with it, depending on the timber.

 

[KimG]

For grain filling that is virtually invisible you won't get much better than Shellac sanding sealer, probably take three coats or more on something porous like Ash or Elm.

I agree with Marcros, I think the filler sticks are to deal with bigger gaps than grain.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

I'm experimenting with natural finishes, and in particular home made finishes. When I did my higher woodwork, we would use unperfumed talc mixed with shellac as a grain filler. It was pasted on with a fad then allowed to dry before being scraped back with a cabinet scraper before sanding lightly.
I quite fancy trying this with some of the punky oak I have lying around.

 

[chipmunk]

As KimG says use more than one coat of sanding sealer.

One trick I learnt from someone at our club was to use a mixture of cellulose sanding sealer and melamine lacquer as a sealer when working things like rosewoods which have very open pores. It takes fewer coats with the mixture to fill the pores and then you won't have the white fleck problem.

The other thing is to avoid using white diamond or pale buffing compounds with these woods.

HTH
Jon

 

[shaver01]

Sanding sealer is a grain filler, ie; it contains minute particles of some sort of filler. Most folks seem to use it as a primary finishing coat, but the proper use is not to dilute it, rub heavily into the open grain and sand back to wood when dry. You MUST shake the can before and during use to keep the filler in solution, it does settle out quite quickly. Use spirit sealer for cellulose finishes, and shellac for French polish.

If using an oil finish you can wet sand using the oil and the slurry raised will fill the grain, after leaving for a bit rub off the heavy across the grain. When dry sand back and repeat the process until happy with the finish.

PS, like other turners I tend to dilute my cellulose sealer, but have used it neat on some projects.

 

[Grahamshed]

Just had this months newsletter from Workshop Heaven and he is talking about pumistone (spelling ?) powder mixed with oil for this very purpose.

 

[shaver01]

Just had this months newsletter from Workshop Heaven and he is talking about pumistone (spelling ?) powder mixed with oil for this very purpose.

Never heard of Pumice being used, the original was 'rottenstone' a derivative of limestone. It was always used when French Polishing to smooth the surface. Possibly used to fill the open grain before polishing, but I know nothing about that.

All french polished work had the grain filled before they started on the final finish, it is only a modern trend where lots of people like to 'feel' the grain that they often leave the grain open when applying the finish.

 

[Hitch]

Thanks for the ideas...


I normally use 2-3 coats of spirit sanding sealer, but I now think I may be applying it too sparingly. I will have a go with this, and the sanding with oil idea and see how I get on.

 

[shaver01]

Thanks for the ideas...


I normally use 2-3 coats of spirit sanding sealer, but I now think I may be applying it too sparingly. I will have a go with this, and the sanding with oil idea and see how I get on.

To fill the grain, every time the sanding sealer dries you must sand back to the wood. Otherwise all you do is build the whole surface up.