wood filler

[Jay Sr.]

I am currently building a sewing table with red oak and oak plywood. There are cracks in the plywood veneer and of course the oak is a coarse wood. I have never used wood filler before and since I wanted to do a good job, I wanted some input on what to do. I plan to stain and then put polyurethane on it, but would consider anything esle at this point. I spoke to one person who suggested using wood filler after staining to fill the pores and cracks. He also suggested using the same brand of stain and poly as well as using an oil base poly when using an oil based stain.
Any suggestions?

Jay

[D L Ames]

Jay, I am certainly no expert on this and I am sure someone with more experience will chime in shortly but I believe you what to use a grain filler product similar to this one.

D L

[NCPete]

Jay, somewhere in one of the woodworking mags in the last year, there were a couple recipe's published for transparent DIY grain fillers, try http://woodindex.com , I think you will find it.

[Jay Sr.]

Thanks, D L, for the tip. That's what I meant to say - grain filler. I'll check it out.
Jay

[Jay Sr.]

I'll try and see if I can find it. Thanks,
Jay

[DavidF]

Jay - fixing the veneer cracks is a different problem to the open pores that occur natually in the oak. Grain filler comes in two types these days - coloured so you have to match the colour or the pores show up against the background, or what I use is transparent grain filler by J.E Moser. Either one is worked into the pores with a plastic scraper and then taken off completely with either burlap (traditional coloured filler) or a plastic scraper (moser transparent) to leave just the pores filled and nothing on the surface. The veneer crack we would need to see a picture of to suggest a suitable fix - perhaps you could attach one?

[Splinter]

Originally Posted by DavidF

or what I use is transparent grain filler by J.E Moser.

David is this what you use ==>> http://www.woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FU...8&LARGEVIEW=ON ? Do you fill the grain as step one after sanding or do you put a water or oil base stain on first? After you fill the pores and scrap off the excess filler and sand lightly what is your next step? I plan to use red oak on an up coming project (cradle for my FIRST grandchild ) and I want to fill the pores so the surface will be smooth as a baby's butt.

[DavidF]

That's the one

[DavidF]

Generally I do not stain my pieces, but in this case I would stain, wash coat with shellac or similar (thinned final finsh) (do not sand at this point), then grain fill. Remove ALL the excess before it sets up too hard - a few mins at most. Then continue with the finishing process. In this scenario I would use an aniline dye rather than pigment stain. If you use a pigment stain then fill the grain first, remove excess, then stain, or in removing the pigment stain you will alomst certainly remove alot of the stain, but generally, use a dye if you are staining AND filling