Shellac as a filler ?

[Adderley]

Hi l have just about finished this African Sapele Large Rocking Horse, now l have been told the best woodgrain filler for this type of wood is thin Shellac as it helps end grain soak up
I will be doing Danish Oil finish as instructed by the customer, if you have any other ideas l would be grateful

regards Allan

 

[marcros]

i would wet sand with the danish oil to fill the pores (grain).

you have either been slightly misinformed with the shellac, or have misunderstood. It is not the end grain that you are trying to fill. Shellac can be used as a filler, but it tends to be a slow process. You could also buy a grain filler in a can.

There is no one "best" filler, so dont worry too much about finding the perfect one!

 

[profchris]

What kind of final effect do you want? If glass-smooth then you have to fill the pores completely, and shellac is very slow (plus will shrink back over time). In instrument making, such filling is usually with fine particulates (e.g. wood dust and pumice in traditional French Polishing, or some proprietary filler). Different types of fill give different effects.

If you don't want glass smooth, then you could do what I do: 4 or 5 wiped on coats of shellac, lightly sanding between every second coat, followed by Tru-Oil (in my case) or Danish Oil (in yours) wiped on top, 2-4 coats.

This is sapele finished in that way. The pores are still there, but as dips in the finish rather than holes.

Whatever you decide, try it out on scrap first!

 

[MIGNAL]

I use Pumice as a filler just after applying a Danish type oil varnish. The varnish clears the pumice. It does take two applications spread over 4 or 5 days, time given for the first application to sink and harden a little. It's hard to beat an oil varnish applied directly to wood.
Shellac by itself will fill pores but it's an incredibly lengthy process. Otherwise use the shellac/pumice method and a French polishing pad. I've yet to use a paste filler that I liked.

 

[Adderley]

thanks guys for your info