grain filler

[fsyxxx]

what do you folks use as grain filler? i keep having little holes in my finish that shows the polishing compound i use for the ca. i only have this problem on woods with big open grain.

thanks
greg

 

[gingerwood]

I use thin CA. For really open grain, I'll pour it over the top the blank while rubbing with the towel underneath to get enough on the wood.

 

[Gary Beasley]

You may need to sand back the CA and cover it again to make the grain fill to a smooth surface.

 

[its_virgil]

I use a slurry of CA and sanding dust. Catch dust from 320 or 400 grit paper. With lathe speed on lower rpm drizzle thin CA over the blank catching the excess on the paper allowing it to mix with the dust. Move the CA slurry back and forth to cover the blank. Hit with a small amount of accelerator. Sand off the slurry or use a scraper and start over. I include the use of a CA slurry on my CA finish instructions on my website at http://www.RedRiverPens.com/articles I actually use the CA slurry on all wooden pens...open grain or not.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[arioux]

n the librairy, there is a nice video from Russ Fairfield (RIP) about using CA as a grain filler

 

[robutacion]

what do you folks use as grain filler? i keep having little holes in my finish that shows the polishing compound i use for the ca. i only have this problem on woods with big open grain.

thanks
greg

Hi Greg,
When I get those sort of woods to finish, I use the thin CA to start the filling process. After you get the wood sanded, make sure that you use compressed air (air gun) to blow ALL the dust from those tinny holes, this is crucial, otherwise you will have the CA sticking to the wood dust and show as dirt underneath the CA finish.

I use the lathe OFF for this and use the finger to spread the thin CA all over the wood. Keep spreading/rubbing the CA on the wood surface until it starts to dry then, you can accelerate the process by using accelerator over it.

Repeat the procedure if you still see the tinny holes appearing after a light sand with a 240grit sandpaper, using again the lathe off and sanding with the grain, rotating the blank as you go.

As soon as you see no holes, you can then continue on with the CA coating as normal but this time you can go straight to the medium CA to complete the CA coating as normal.

The intention/need here is to have those holes perfectly clean before any CA goes over them. The CA will fill them out and they will be invisible to the naked eye, if done properly...!

Good luck.

Cheers
George

 

[pensbydesign]

a wash coat of dewaxed shellac works well to

 

[Carl Fisher]

I've been wondering about using shellac. I have plenty from my other projects but wasn't sure if it had a place in pen finishing.

 

[bradh]

I use a slurry of CA and sanding dust. Catch dust from 320 or 400 grit paper. With lathe speed on lower rpm drizzle thin CA over the blank catching the excess on the paper allowing it to mix with the dust. Move the CA slurry back and forth to cover the blank. Hit with a small amount of accelerator. Sand off the slurry or use a scraper and start over. I include the use of a CA slurry on my CA finish instructions on my website at http://www.RedRiverPens.com/articles I actually use the CA slurry on all wooden pens...open grain or not.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

I have tried some of the other methods listed in this thread, and settled on this method Don describes. It is quick and evens up the finish nicely on open grained woods like Red Oak. I don't bother with this extra step on closed grain woods.