Thread: open or closed grain timber

All hardwoods (timber from non-conifer trees, ie pines or trees called pines) are open grained. Some are much more open grained than others. Whether they require grain filling is a personal choice. Any list will be subjective.

Are you looking to avoid timbers that need grain filling?

I am just trying to kepp some consistency between timbers on a project. I have closed pore maple and wanted to have a few choices of timbers to join on to it.

I don't wish to use grain filler at all on the project. Just sanding sealer then finish

Most of my work is with hardwood / very open grain timbers. I don't use grain fillers as I like the open texture look & feel, even after finishing (lacquer). However, other woodworkers in my area do the opposite. They grain fill either by initial filling or multiple coats of lacquer until the grain is all filled up. Like JB said, it's personal preference. But I guess if you've got more than one timber & one is filled - your options are limited.. Good luck with it.

Richard

Filling very open pored timbers like oak\tas oak etc with a black filler gives a very nice effect as it accentuates the pores. Probably look ace on blackwood.