Thread: Clear grain filler

Originally Posted by jimbur

A recipe I read somewhere - not evern sure if they mean mineral or real turpentine.
one part spar varnish
two parts turpentine.
mix in sufficient powdered silica to make it a custard-like consistency.
Apply, wipe off across the grain and let dry before sanding.
Cheers,
Jim

Interesting Jim, but please if anyone decides to try this make sure you have industrial-strength dust extraction. Have a read about silicosis here Silicosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cheers
Arron

Originally Posted by ian

The same stuff. It can be tinted with spirit stains. Last time I used it I gave it a soft pink hue.

I'm not sure why you want a clear grain filler. Normally a grain filler is used to either totally hide the grain so that you can build a glass like pianio finish, or to bring out the grain -- in which case the grain cfiller would normally be a little to a lot darker than the underlying wood.

Hi Ian, imagine you have a surface made of alternating 3 and 6mm strips of black and white veneer. Both veneer timbers are rather open-pored, and there are tiny gaps between (which I suppose shouldnt be there but they are). Use a black filler and it does a good job of the black, but gets into the pores of the white timber and looks terrible. Use a white filler and it gets in the pores of the black and looks pretty bad too. Use a neutral coloured filler and both just end up looking muddy, especially the white (silver ash or rock maple).

Larger gaps are not a problem, I just choose an adjacent colour and fill with Timbermate, masking off the contrasting timber so as not to allow contamination - so its the pores and really tiny gaps which are the problem.

However I"m thinking that a transparent filler should allow both timbers to keep their natural colour and the whole thing to keep the crisp/sharp look that I'm aiming for.

further:
using one of those solutions into which you sand the surface and allow the sanding dust/slurry to fill the pores is going to have the same effect of making one of the various surfaces muddy.

cheers
Arron

Originally Posted by auscab

Hi Arron,
the guitar and ukulele builders are using epoxy, they spread across the grain with a credit card, let it go off,sand,then do a second application sand.
then start on their chosen finish.

you would want to do a search in the musical instrument section
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - Woodwork Forums
and you should find some interesting reading.
Rob

Interesting. My first thought when reading this is that it was a bad idea because I've used a lot of epoxy in boat building and I know its pretty hard to sand. However, if luthiers use it then maybe its worth a try because those guys are known for their delicate work.

I think epoxy might be better then casting resin which is polyester and didnt really work well because of the aforementioned filling the hills while filling the valleys thing.

I think the key will be to fill the valleys, then squeegy it off before it sets on the hills, to minimize the destructive effect of sanding very fine veneers. I have some Bote-coat marine epoxy left over from my last build. I wonder if that would do the job ? I'll definitely give it a try this weekend and let you know the result.

cheers
Arron

Originally Posted by Arron

Interesting Jim, but please if anyone decides to try this make sure you have industrial-strength dust extraction. Have a read about silicosis here Silicosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
cheers
Arron

Thanks Arron. I've edited my post to include your warning.
Cheers,
Jim

If you could find a source of ground glass or glass microspheres, that would be safer than crystalline silica.

Cheers
Michael

Hi there,
Feast Watson sanding sealer (interior clear sealer for open grain timber) claims to do what you want except it is not water based.
Regards

Originally Posted by Arron

Hi Ian, imagine you have a surface made of alternating 3 and 6mm strips of black and white veneer. Both veneer timbers are rather open-pored, and there are tiny gaps between (which I suppose shouldnt be there but they are). Use a black filler and it does a good job of the black, but gets into the pores of the white timber and looks terrible. Use a white filler and it gets in the pores of the black and looks pretty bad too. Use a neutral coloured filler and both just end up looking muddy, especially the white (silver ash or rock maple).

Larger gaps are not a problem, I just choose an adjacent colour and fill with Timbermate, masking off the contrasting timber so as not to allow contamination - so its the pores and really tiny gaps which are the problem.

However I"m thinking that a transparent filler should allow both timbers to keep their natural colour and the whole thing to keep the crisp/sharp look that I'm aiming for.

further:
using one of those solutions into which you sand the surface and allow the sanding dust/slurry to fill the pores is going to have the same effect of making one of the various surfaces muddy.

cheers
Arron

I suppose one option would be to seal the surface with blond shellac, then apply a couple of coats of thinned polyurathane as the pore filler.
After a few coats you shoul be able to cut the surface back to flat with a powered sander without cutting into the veneer

Though the idea of applying clear epoxy or gelcoat with a plastic scraper has appeal.

Originally Posted by ian

Though the idea of applying clear epoxy or gelcoat with a plastic scraper has appeal.

Doesnt it just. So why does everything to do with wood finishing have to sound like a trip back to the 18th century ??

Coat, recoat, sand, coat, sand, coat, sand, coat, sand, coat, sand .....