Filling the pores of wood stock?
- Thread starter elmerdeer
- Start date
I normally do this first when finishing a new stock, but it should work for you - apply some of the oil finish, using fine sand paper (1000 grit or so) and gently wipe off the excess - let stand a couple of days (warm, not hot place) and repeat till happy - the "sanding dust" will fill the pores - slow but actually neat.
Have fun.
Have fun.
There are wood fillers in every hardware store. Any of 'em will do. However, tung oil, properly rubbed into a correctly sanded stock, will fill the wood and give you a smooth, hard, waterproof, shiney finish. The more coats you rub in, the shiner the finish. Any staining must be done before the first coat. Scratches can still be fixed by rubbing in a bit more tung oil.
X 3 with the tung oil, but I cut the oil with equal amounts of mineral spirits, and have worked up to 800 or 1000 grit,and then finished off with several coats of hand rubbing. Be sure to use a small sanding block wherever possible ( a hard eraser works well), make sure you sand with the grain, work the stock in small sections, and gently spread the slurry across the grain before moving on to next section. The block keeps things flat and even...something that cannot be done with just your fingers. Make sure you let the stock dry well between coats. It will look all "smeary" and powdery once its dry. To see how its coming along , you can remove the dried slurry with extra fine steel wool. The wood will start to get a nice glow to it after half a dozen coats or so.
We carry a product from Miles & Gilbert called Stock Re-Finishing Kit Formula #5. It includes finish remover, sandpaper, grain sealer, pore filler, finish and more. It also includes an excellent instuctional DVD. This is from Battenfeld Technologies, $37 in stiock. Phil.
A lot of paint shop sanding sealers are high in silica (think of the stuff glass is made from) content. The stuff works but plays hob with the sharp edges of checkering tools.
Sanding with grits as fine as 800 or 1000 is doing it the hard way. Use 320 or 400 to create your slurry. Then wet sand it smooth after drying hard with 400 grit and call it good. Most finishes actually like a tiny amount of texture in the wood to grip on and 400 to 600 is as fine as you have to go for that job and there won't be visible sanding scratches. 1000, 1500, 2000 grits are best reserved for rubbing out the final finish prior to rottenstone rubbing.
Sanding with grits as fine as 800 or 1000 is doing it the hard way. Use 320 or 400 to create your slurry. Then wet sand it smooth after drying hard with 400 grit and call it good. Most finishes actually like a tiny amount of texture in the wood to grip on and 400 to 600 is as fine as you have to go for that job and there won't be visible sanding scratches. 1000, 1500, 2000 grits are best reserved for rubbing out the final finish prior to rottenstone rubbing.
