Problems with natural finish!

[scorpionscar]

Hi guys, I'm working on a Strat style project with the neck glued to the body. I want a natural transparente finish. I sprayed a washcoat of sanding sealer and after that filled the grain with aquacoat and another coat of sanding sealer. The problem here is that I ended up with white dots at the boton of the guitar and the rest of the pores were supposed to be transparent, but the effect is more lile white. On the other hand there is a little cloudines in some areas that turn the finish in an opaque thing.

On the other hand, In the inner zones of the horns are areas which don`t allow to see the natural pattern of the grain (this problem is no due to the grain fill, however I notice it happens in those areas where the grain of the wood go in various directions. I don`t know the name of this problem, but is maybe caused by a non correct sanding tech in this area? When I'm in sandin process seems to be not visible, but when applying the finish appears. How can sand this difficult area correctly?

I decided to strip the finish and re-do again because the result was horrible. What should I do in order to fill the pores? I've tested all types of pore fills and have no enconter one that works for me. Too much sanding work and risk of sanding throughs, appar from some grain fillers tend to tint the wood a bit.

The body is Honduran mahogany and has a lot of grain and I want a mirror effect finish. Which method do you use for grain fill? Do you think is best seal the wood and then pore fill, or pore fill directly to the bare wood? Tell me about your experiences, I need a perfect finish. Thanks in advance!!!

 

Scorpionscar

[woodfab]

I like to skip the sealer and just use lacquer. to fill the pores, diffidently take a lot more coats.

I like to practice on some scrap pieces first.

[Bizman62]

It's already over a month old thread so you may already have found out a way to achieve what you want. Nonetheless, here's some thoughts:

The issue is in pore filling but what to use to fill them? For what I've learned, sanding sealer is not pore filler so you might need something else. There's tons of pore fillers available, even crystal clear ones, BUT I've also heard that they may not be as good as promised. (Source: Jerry Rosa who claims he has tested most of them) . Lacquer (nitro) is good but it will shrink forever so you'll need dozens of layers and lots of time (like a year), sanding in between.

Once we did some testing with clear 2k designed for metal flake covered cars. I took a piece of mahogany and sanded both the end and side grain round for the full 2" thickness to get all sorts of grain patterns. Just one single thick coat was enough to both fill the pores and leave a polishable surface, no orange peel or other anomalies. Unfortunately it was just that patch/mix/spray gun setting/position of stars that gave such a perfect result. Anyhow, that sort of finish is designed to fill gaps and rough surfaces to a mirror finish.

Another option for filler is to use the sanding dust of that very same wood and mix it with either glue or the finish you're going to use to a slurry and use that as a filler. The hue should be similar although most likely a tad darker. But it should fill the pores efficiently!

 

[SiZi]

I haven’t tried this myself, but I have watched videos of some reputable luthiers using Zpoxy as a pore filler for natural finishes and the end results seem great. All the best!