Replies

1. 
   HowardAcheson | Feb 12, 2007 09:43pm | #1

   It depends what type of finish and/or look you want. If you want a formal perfectly flat finished surface with no grain feel, then a grain filler is required. If you want a less formal natural grain feel to the wood, then no grain filler is required.

   As always, test your plans or questions on scrap from your project to see which gives you what you want.Howie.........

   
   

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   Edited 2/12/2007 1:44 pm ET by HowardAcheson

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 12, 2007 09:52pm | #2

   If you want a fully filled finish, pore filler is about the only way on oak, white or red.  You may be able to fill pores on honduran mahogany or walnut with the top coat, but even white oak's pores are quite a bit larger.  It's a matter of preferences, but if I don't want a fully filled film finish on oak the alternative is an "in-the-wood" oil/varnish finish.  What I don't like is the hills and valleys of a film finish on unfilled oak. 

   I like oil based pore fillers.  To me they off comfortable working times.  I haven't personnally experienced problems of the sort that apparently occurred on the recent thread, but I've only used water based filler a time or too, and I try never to finish in cold spaces.  Waterbased fillers dry so fast that removing excess is almost always mostly a sanding process rather than the wiping process used with oil based.  Behlen's Pore O Pac has worked well. 

   I

1. 
   joaserin | Feb 12, 2007 10:21pm | #3

   I am looking for a Arts and Crafts style  finish and  am just finishing up two chairs and am about ready to start building the table. I dont thing cold will be much of a problem as I am in the desert near Palm Springs area.  But thanks for the insight on fast drying  with water based fillers and the sanding that goes with.  However it is extremely time consuming to put it on and remove it one a chair with all of the narrow rails and rungs etc.  Any ideas.

1. 
   Patto | Feb 13, 2007 05:21am | #4

   not as time consuming as the filling them with endless padding of shellac. Been there and dont recommend it.

   I have used one of the recommended products in this part of the world - a sanding sealer from Feast Watson. My experience with that has been that sanding it back was a real hassle, but possibly because of temerature.

   Dave

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 13, 2007 03:46pm | #5

   Mission furniture seldom has a fully filled surface.   But, to avoid the cheap look of heavy coatings you need to keep the finish quite thin.  Just a little more than an in-the-wood oil finish.  Jeff Jewitt has several articles on the web of a very good mission (arts and crafts) finishing schedule.  Check on his website

   http://www.homesteadfinishing.com or in the Badger Pond (BP) articles on the

   http://www.woodcentral.com  site. 

   Basically you establish the overall tone with a dye, seal that with shellac, and then empahasize or de-emphasize the pores with a glaze, and then top coat with one or two light coats of shellac or one coat of shellac and a coat or at most two with a wiping varnish such as Waterlox.  Jeff explains it quite well. 

   And, be sure to follow the advise to work out all the details on scrap before doing anything to the actual project. 

1. 
   joaserin | Feb 16, 2007 01:43am | #6

   Thanks for your input. I will make the time to go to the Homestead site. I've been there before and its always interesting reading.   Ive noticed you are in the finish section of this site quite often as Ive read some other comments along the way.  Are you more into the finishing side or the " building" ?  I am constantly trying to improve on the finishing side as like others I am tired of feeling great about a project then ending up with a finish that is less than professional. Thanks again for your input.  really appreciate it. 

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Feb 16, 2007 05:11am | #7

   I enjoy both aspects, but have hopefully been able to pick up more info useful to others in the finishing area. My interest in finishing was stimulated by exactly the same frustration of not being able to get the end look I wanted.  So I have read a lot and have experimented with the stuff I have read.