Grain Filling Mahogany

[Maurits]

Hi guys, I've got a question on what to use as a filler for mahogany when a trans black will be aplied over it. The two products (both minwax) in question are:

http://www.minwax.com/products/woodprep/stainable-fill.cfm

and

http://www.minwax.com/products/woodmaint/putty.cfm

Am I right in thinking the Stainable Filler is more suitable for the job?

Thanks a bunch in advance,

Maurits

[killemall8]

Hi guys, I've got a question on what to use as a filler for mahogany when a trans black will be aplied over it. The two products (both minwax) in question are:

http://www.minwax.com/products/woodprep/stainable-fill.cfm

and

http://www.minwax.com/products/woodmaint/putty.cfm

Am I right in thinking the Stainable Filler is more suitable for the job?

Thanks a bunch in advance,

Maurits

well, out of those 2 options, neither of those are actually grain fillers. those are just wood putty to repair holes or gouges. i wouldnt used that for grain filler. and it also depends wether you are staining to a trans black, or using tinted paint to achieve a trans black

[Maurits]

Thanks, this wasn't for a project of mine and these were the only products available for the person I asked it for I think.

[westhemann]

I use ca glue or thin epoxy

[ihocky2]

Neither of those product would be recommended. The one is non hardening so you'll have a problem getting a finish to adhere. The other is normal wood putty and will shrink back badly and will not fill the pores very well. If the person this project is for only has those available, I am guessing they are limited to hardware store materials. At that point, I would use clear epoxy as a grain filler, it is cheap, and fairly easy to use and is easy to find. But you can not stain on top of epoxy. You would have to stain first, but you may have problems with the stain bleeding into the epoxy. Try a scrap piece first. With epoxy you may want to use a tinted clear coat to get the black transparent, but that will be hard to find at a hardware store, more than likely you'll have to mix it yourself. But you can spray that over the epoxy.

[slappy]

How do you use CA as a grainfiller?

[Prostheta]

Drag it in the direction of the grain using a knife blade or similar. I use black CA for grainfilling and it works wonders. A little goes a VERY long way. Just clean your applicator with a rag and acetone.

[Rick500]

I asked once before and was told it wasn't a good idea, but now that it's been brought up again specifically with mahogany in mind, my curiosity is renewed:

My current project guitar is mahogany, and I want to Tru-Oil it, but being mahogany, I want to grain fill it first. Either dark brown or black. (Anyone have a pic of black-grain-filled mahogany?) I really dislike working with epoxy. Will CA cause an issue with Tru-Oil? Opinions seem to be mixed. Someone responded before that the oil would probably not penetrate into the wood after CA was applied, but my understanding is that the CA will only remain in the pores and not on the surface.

[mattharris75]

I asked once before and was told it wasn't a good idea, but now that it's been brought up again specifically with mahogany in mind, my curiosity is renewed:

My current project guitar is mahogany, and I want to Tru-Oil it, but being mahogany, I want to grain fill it first. Either dark brown or black. (Anyone have a pic of black-grain-filled mahogany?) I really dislike working with epoxy. Will CA cause an issue with Tru-Oil? Opinions seem to be mixed. Someone responded before that the oil would probably not penetrate into the wood after CA was applied, but my understanding is that the CA will only remain in the pores and not on the surface.

Rick, check out this picture of my pickup cover: Pickup Cover

It's not mahogany, but the center section is walnut which also has very open grain. I got a very smooth finish on it without grainfilling. And if you are interested in a black grainfiller, just do what I did. I stained the wood a couple of coats of black, then sanded it back so the black was only in the grain. I applied a thick coat of tru oil for the first coat. Then for the second coat I wet sanded with tru oil and the 1200 grit micro mesh paper. I then continued to apply regular coats, and after about every half dozen coats i'd wet sand it smooth. Once I was happy with the smoothness (somewhere around 15 coats) I wet sanded one last time and put in two very very thin coats on top to give it a nice shine.

The result is this: The pores in the wood were totally filled and I had the cool appearance of having used black grainfiller.

Edited July 7, 2007 by mattharris75