Tearout and finish

[Mark Baldwin III]

Hi all, I'm working on a small table and the finishing problem popped into my head while I was planing the top. The top is three pieces edge glued and oriented so that I can plane it easily, there are no electrons being used. The two outside boards are canary wood, and the center is ambrosia maple.
One piece of the canary and the ambrosia have a bit of tearout that I'm having trouble with.
The question is this: if I'm using oil and shellac as a finish, how much tearout can I tolerate? Will the oil and wax be able to hide at least some? I'm doing my best to work it all out, but I don't want to plane it down to the point that it becomes a piece of veneer:eek:.
Thanks!

(changed wax to shellac...had the wrong finish in my head)

[Scott Holmes]

Oil and shellac finish?

Shellac can fill minor tearout; as can an oil based varnish.

[Casey Gooding]

I would use a card scraper to tame the tear out first. Then finish.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Thanks, Scott. It's good to know that it will deal with at least a little bit. This isn't a show piece...but I still want it to look like I care!
Casey, I'm definitely going to have to bust out the scrapers for this. Since I wasn't at final thickness yet, I played with planing directions a little with my HAS (55 degree, Krenov style). The two pieces of canary wood are cut from the same board. One piece didn't care what I did, it planed nice and smooth. The other side is out to get me! The maple has a gnarly spot that may or may not work out as a plane down a bit more.