Wood filler for mahogany?

[denis tuomey]

:confused: What kind of filler is best for filling the grain on Mahogany, I'm about to begin a project with Mahogany which I've never worked with. Would appreciate any input.

[Prashun Patel]

I've used oil based fillers. They work, but are messy. Mahogany isn't as open grained as other woods, and I've found that it fills well with shellac. However, that requires some aggressive sanding, so if yr staining/coloring the wood, this is a tricky endeavor.

What's your project?

It is also possible soemtimes to fill mahogany with the final topcoat. It just means more sanding and leveling between coats, but I've done it successfully.

[denis tuomey]

Im' going to make a Media/Entertainment center, this will be the first large-complex project I have ever done, 22"w x 66"L, with swing out doors on each end containing 3 storage shelves, 2 center doors that swing out and slide back in out of the way, (never installed sliding doors) with a storage dove tail drawer and adj. shelf behind the center doors, doors= raised panel, all stained to be dark. It will be alot of work, but I'm looking forward to the challange. I've drafted all the plans and see the finished product on paper and in my head. Thats what I love about woodworking is creating something in your head :rolleyes: and then little by little bringing it all together and finally seeing the finished project.

[Prashun Patel]

Have you considered NOT grain filling? Some people only bother on table tops or desks, where a) you want a formal, glassy look, b) the surface might be used as a writing surface, c) you see the piece with raked light often, so you notice it being or not being glass smooth.

For horizontal or hidden surfaces, grain filling is a lot of work for no structural or aesthetic benefit.

Are you planning to stain/dye the piece?

[denis tuomey]

Have you considered NOT grain filling? Some people only bother on table tops or desks, where a) you want a formal, glassy look, b) the surface might be used as a writing surface, c) you see the piece with raked light often, so you notice it being or not being glass smooth.

For horizontal or hidden surfaces, grain filling is a lot of work for no structural or aesthetic benefit.

Are you planning to stain/dye the piece?

I prefer not to fill, but after looking at some African Mahogany, it looks like it has serious open grain pits, however I will use Honduran on the top and doors and I think the Honduran looks pretty good. I have used dye on my last 2 projects and really liked working with it, so I think I'll stick with it.

[Prashun Patel]

What's yr topcoat?

[Matthew Joe]

I haven't tried any commercial fillers, but I did recently test three grain filling techniques on mahogany. I tried filling the grain with a sawdust slurry, pumice, and rottenstone, all on the same board, finished them with a french polish, and then compared each against an unfilled mahogany sample french polished.

All three fillers did an average job at filling the grain. The differences were mainly in coloration. The sawdust slurry was my favorite, because it highlighted the natural coloration differences in the wood the most. The rottenstone darkened the board too much, and the pumice didn't seem to have much effect on coloration. The unfilled finish was my least favorite, because it had the least variation in tone and color. Honestly, I didn't have to work that much harder to fill the grain in the unfilled portion with shellac during the french polishing process, so if filling the grain is your sole goal, it might not be worth the extra work.

I'll try to post a picture of my board when I get home tonight.

[Jeff Monson]

For my next mohagany project I'm going to try this product
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/CPF-2530/CrystaLac-Wood-Grain-Filler
I'd like to know if anyone has used it? as it does look like the way to go.

I recently finished a mohagany desk and wanted the grain on the top filled, I ended up building up coats and sanding back to get it level but I wont do that again as its way to time consuming.

[denis tuomey]

What's yr topcoat?

Wipe-on Satin Polyurathane

[Scott Holmes]

Matthew Joe,

You said "unfilled mahogany sample french polished"

French polish is a technique that fills the grain during the first step which uses pumice.

I don't think you are doing a true "French Polish". Are you padding shellac?

[dan sherman]

Don't waste you money, I just tried this stuff on genuine mahogany and absolutely hated it, it's so thin that you have to use a lot of coats to actually fill the grain in an open grain wood.


For my next mohagany project I'm going to try this product
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/CPF-2530/CrystaLac-Wood-Grain-Filler
I'd like to know if anyone has used it? as it does look like the way to go.


I just went through testing all the commercial fillers I could get my hands on, and didn't like any of them. I'm convinced, if you don't want to muck with the look of the wood, shellac is the way to go.

Attatched is a chunk of genuine mahogany that was finished in the following manner.


sanded to 180 grit
12 sprayed coats of 2 lb. cut de-waxed garnet shellac, I sanded back to raw wood between every 4 coats with a palm sander & 220 grit paper. you can get by with fewer coats if you use a heavier cut.
2 coats of 50/50 blo/ms


when the temp in the shop gets up above freezing again (hopefully in a week or two), I'm going to apply 2 barrier coats of the 2lb garnet and then top coat with lacquer. Then after the lacquer is hard I can rub it out.

The one pic is of the entire board, the other is a close up of the edge of the bored that still has some pin pricks (cause from sanding back way to aggressively) that will be filled by the barrier and top coats.

[Barry Gork]

Dennis,

There is an Australian water based wood filler that can be thinned and wiped on. It can be reconstituted with water, so you don't have to worry about timing or putting it on too thick. You mix it to a slurry, wipe on, let it dry, sand, and finish.

It is available at Eagle America (one of the sponsors of this site)

[Scott Holmes]

Dan,

12 sprayed coats of shellac should have been more than enough to fill the grain of that piece of mahogany. Are you sure you're using a 2# cut mixed fresh or are you using the aerosol spray can which is less than a 1# cut.

I find that 4 coats of 2# then sand it back flat is usually plenty of shellac to fill the grain of mahogany.

You may be sanding WAY TOO MUCH... Flat is all you want to achieve.

[dan sherman]

Yea, it was fresh, I mixed it my self from Hock flakes about 2 weeks ago.

I think it took 12 coats for 3 reasons

1. I was just testing the color of this particular finishing regiment, and was thus aggressive with the palm sander. If I was doing a real piece I would have used a sanding block.
2. when I sprayed it was cold in the shop, 50F and the shellac didn't really want to flow into the pores, it kind of beaded up around them.
3. I sanded back all the way to raw wood, because I applied the blo after the shellac (thay way I don't have to worry about sand through).



Dan,

12 sprayed coats of shellac should have been more than enough to fill the grain of that piece of mahogany. Are you sure you're using a 2# cut mixed fresh or are you using the aerosol spray can which is less than a 1# cut.

I find that 4 coats of 2# then sand it back flat is usually plenty of shellac to fill the grain of mahogany.

You may be sanding WAY TOO MUCH... Flat is all you want to achieve.

[Chris Fitzpatrick]

:confused: What kind of filler is best for filling the grain on Mahogany, I'm about to begin a project with Mahogany which I've never worked with. Would appreciate any input.

I use Behlen's Pore-O-Pack, tinted with japan color burnt umber. Worked well. My process was ;

an orange colored stain
shellac wash coat
grain filler
wash coat
red mahogany glaze
wash coat
another 1 or 2 coats of shellac or wipe on poly
wax

[Matthew Joe]

Hi Scott--yes, I'm padding shellac. I have read that the traditional french polish relies on a pumice grain filler, but that many now french polish (with similar results) by filling the grain in other ways or possibly not filling at all. Maybe skipping or replacing that step disqualifies the finish as a "french polish." I tried the traditional way, and then tried some alternatives. I was able to achieve a very high gloss on my mahogany with all of the methods, but got the best coloration from a sawdust slurry.

I meant to post my picture last night, but forgot. I'll try to remember tonight.

[Jamie Schmitz]

Here is a link and example of a product that works fairly well. One trick is to thin it a little with Naptha or L.Thinner. I used Burnt Sienna as a colorant added to their Natural product which is putty white. I would recommend not sanding with anything under 220 because you will drag the filler out. One added tip is if you don't want a 16 oz. bottle of colorant laying around for 10 years (little bit goes a long ways) is to simply take a small container into a paint store and ask nicely for a quick shot. This is especially cool to do if you want to experiment.
http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=105

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2680/4255230816_d7566c41b5_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4254435597_12203bd598_o.jpg

[Matthew Joe]

As promised, here are some pictures of my test piece. Turns out it's very difficult to accurately photograph wood up close! These are the best I can do with my camera. The first picture kind of shows how the grain is filled. The second picture shows, from left to right, the: (1) pumice filler; (2) rottenstone filler; (3) unfilled; and (4) the sawdust slurry filler.