Used to be that red oak required a paste wood filler prior to applying any other finishing product. Haven’t found any paste wood filler in the local big orange box lately. In any case, I am building an oak roll top desk, vintage 1890 and want to use a fumed finish but don’t want to go to the trouble of trying to find anhydrous ammonia and building a cover for the fuming process. Plan on using a water based stain for the fuming colorant. Should I fill the wood prior to staining or after? Will one or two applications of water stain raise the grain enough that after some additional sanding that a filler won’t be necessary?
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Replies
You don't have to find anhydrous ammonia, or even blueprint ammonia. Household ammonia works just fine. And another poster here recently suggested a small u-haul trailer as a fuming enclosure.
Thanks. If I decide to use ammonia rather than the water based stain I have, I most surely will give the trailer consideration. Its on hand! Thanks
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