Grain Filler

[tomrulez]

Hi,

Im in the final stages of finishing a build and need some help with grain filler. My body wood is mahogany and I will be finising with danish oil to provide a nice clear finish. My question is that do I need to apply grain filler before I finish the wood or can I just apply enough coats of danish oil to provide a smooth finish?

thanks

[~davie]

Hi,

Im in the final stages of finishing a build and need some help with grain filler. My body wood is mahogany and I will be finising with danish oil to provide a nice clear finish. My question is that do I need to apply grain filler before I finish the wood or can I just apply enough coats of danish oil to provide a smooth finish?

thanks

apply grain filler along the wood, let it cure or dry, sand it smooth. then you're gonna want to apply sanding sealer and sand it to give it an even surface to finish.

[low end fuzz]

well if danish oil is an actual oil, sealing it/grain filling, will prohibit oil from doing its job, which is to be absorbed/penetrate

so if your finishing porous wood with oil you have 2 options;

either have a grainy finish (the "hand rubbed look")

or continous sanding of higher grits with wet oil, until the pores are fine enough to live with;

start oiling the wood sanded to 150/180 tops( get er on there thick so it will drink(wipe off excess after 5-10 min))

after a day or two move consecutivly up thru grits 220 320 400 600 and so on with wet oil ,like wet sanding;

some ppl think this is 'pore filling' with oil and dust but its not, since when the excess is wiped so is anything in the pores; however the more finer sanding makes the pores smaller and less visible on the suface while the oil keeps the paper lubed and restoring any other oil you might sand off the top;

still no real protection if its an oil; but is danish oil like treated with curing solids or somehting?

[al heeley]

-1 for grain filler/sealer on hoggnie, +1 for the wet sanding of danish oil. I like to believe this creates a slurry of oil and sawdust which can help fill the larger pores but bow to others experience on this.

Danish oil has driers in so once penetrated the pores will start being filled. You need a good few very light coats rubbed in with fine grit paper, allos a day to cure and dry then continue until you start to build up a good sheen to the surface.

then when fully cured, buff up with a good hard furniture wax polish.

[fryovanni]

What product do you plan to use? Most "Danish oil" is a actually blended(varnish, thinner, boiled oil). The oil won't build for squat, the varnish will build slowely. If your goal is a smooth finish(level). Fill the pores with a product that will do the job more efficiently with less sink back(say Zpoxy). If you want to fill the pores by sanding or pumicing and use a binder to hold the material. Rememeber not to oversoak the binder(this leads to slow curing and sink back). I don't know if a oil varnish would be my first choice as a binder, but I have never tried using it as a binder. I have used shellac, and actually I tried egg white one time and it works really well (big downside is it dries so darn hard, you have to take it easy on how much you use- this made it more troublesome and I never really took to using it). Zpoxy is about the simplest fill I can think of for a smooth surface.

I have never been a fan of soaking nice resonant well dried tonewood down with a pure penetrating oil. With most of the varnish oils, I suspect the amount of oil that penetrates the actual is much reduced. For a hand applied finish, I reach for shellac. Just my opinion though.

Peace,Rich

[aidlook]

some ppl think this is 'pore filling' with oil and dust but its not, since when the excess is wiped so is anything in the pores; however the more finer sanding makes the pores smaller and less visible on the suface

Pores are essentially holes, how can you make holes smaller without filling them with something? According to your theory it seems you could sand the pores out of a sponge with really fine paper, and we both know that's not gonna work unless you fill the pores with something.

Edited March 17, 2008 by aidlook

[low end fuzz]

well the thing is , it dosent make the pores smaller, just less noticeable, but unless your leaving gobs of oil in the pores, theyre not being 'filled'

i dont know the science, just the end result;

if i think of it and have my camera i'll post the walnut i did with this method;

the pores are there and not filled, but you dont see the 'pits'