Hello, I’m making a kitchen table with 1/4-sawn White oak. I’m going to finish it by:
1) dye stain
2) BLO
3) dewaxed shellac
4) gel stain
5) Arm-r-seal
My question is two-fold: would you use a clear grain-filler like aqua-coat, and if so, when would you apply it?
My thought would be after the shellac but I’m not sure, for I’ve never used it, if there would be a problem with the gel stain adhering?
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Replies
wow I made an end of bed bench out of 1/4 WO and finished similarly. I did the aqua cote after the shellac and before the varnish. it worked pretty well, but it took quite a few passes of the aqua cote to get everything filled.
Many people use the first shellac coat as a filler. If you're mixing your own, make it a little heavier than your standard mix. Or use something like SealCoat. Brush it on, heavy coverage. It will sink into the raw wood and usually fill the pores. You can sand it lightly before rubbing in lighter shellac. Also curious why put the stain on after the shellac? I don't use the two together often, so really not criticizing, just trying to learn.