Clear wood grain filler?

[Maurice Arney]

Is there such a thing as clear wood grain filler? Making a large oak desk top (60"x30"). I love oak desks but can never get a totally smooth finish with just sanding and finishing products. I've seen "grain fillers" but they usually come in different colors. I would like to keep the natural oak showing through without adding any color to the grain.

Thanks!

[Mark Bolton]

You would have to just build more finish (within the limits of whatever the finish your using) or use a high build finish.

[Halgeir Wold]

Some guitar builders grain fill with clear epoxy, sometimes thinned with acetone.... grain filling while sanding in wet shellac is also done..
Still- it is all about building enough thickness.

[Max Neu]

Hot hide glue works good.

[Cary Falk]

Steward Mac sells them:
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Finishing_Supplies/Fillers_and_Putties/ColorTone_Waterbase_Grain_Filler.html

[Jim Matthews]

Durham's Rock Hard water putty mixed with sawdust from the same surface
and shellac can be used as a filler. It won't handle gaps that are large, but it
doesn't shrink much, either.

Practice on a cut off, first.
Fill with the mixture like, cake batter.
Allow sufficient drying time before sanding with a fine grit.

Seal with shellac before proceeding to your final finish coat.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, there are clear pore fillers available. Behlen's is one of them, AFAIK.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Durham's Rock Hard water putty mixed with sawdust from the same surface and shellac can be used as a filler.

You may have contrary experience but my understanding is that water putty must be mixed with water, not a solvent based product, or it will never dry.

[John Coloccia]

re: epoxy
Works great. No need to thin it, although you would usually use alcohol, not acetone. ZPoxy Finishing Resin has a slight amber hue to it, but really it's not bad. It sands GREAT, which is why everyone uses it.

I've been told this stuff works great:
http://www.rockler.com/crystalac-clear-waterborne-wood-grain-filler

I've also been told that this works great, though I personally only heard about it recently:
http://aquacoat.com/products/clear-grain-filler

(http://aquacoat.com/products/clear-grain-filler)Now all that said, I promise you that I could fill the oak with colored filler, and you'd never know it. The key is the match the color to be just a touch darker than the surrounding oak. That will result in a very natural looking finish. The general technique would be to first seal the wood with a wash coat of something (shellac, lacquer...whatever). That protects the wood from staining. Then fill and sand. Then finish. Anyhow, I've used clear filler too, and there's nothing wrong with that, so give it a try. :)

[Yonak Hawkins]

There's this new product : Seal-Lac

http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood-market-trends/woodworking-industry-trends-press-releases/ShellacFinishes-Offers-Combination-Pore-Filler-and-Wood-Sealer-278078171.html?utm_source=1906A2514589D3U&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=Woodworking+Network+D#sthash.C4uYuG8i .dpbs

..But I'm skeptical there is really anything new or innovative about it. It's pretty pricy.

[Mark Bolton]

Is there such a thing as clear wood grain filler? Making a large oak desk top (60"x30"). I love oak desks but can never get a totally smooth finish with just sanding and finishing products. I've seen "grain fillers" but they usually come in different colors. I would like to keep the natural oak showing through without adding any color to the grain.

Thanks!

What finish are you using generally? Oil based poly? CV? Etc.

[glenn bradley]

When using an oil finish I fill pores in red oak with plaster of paris. It levels sands) very easily and turns translucent when the oil hits it. Top coat as usual. There's plenty about this here and there but, here's a decent article on it: 'http://pianomaker.co.uk/technical/filling/'

[Maurice Arney]

What finish are you using generally? Oil based poly? CV? Etc.

Mark, I use whatever works for the project. If I had a good clear filler, I would use whatever works best with that product. Generally speaking though, I use poly (solvent based) or Waterlox original.

[Maurice Arney]

Wow, thanks everyone for the great tips! Now I have some experimenting to do!

[John Coloccia]

When using an oil finish I fill pores in red oak with plaster of paris. It levels sands) very easily and turns translucent when the oil hits it. Top coat as usual. There's plenty about this here and there but, here's a decent article on it: 'http://pianomaker.co.uk/technical/filling/'

That's clever. I don't think I've heard of that before. By oil finish, are you talking about something like Waterlox?

[Brian W Smith]

This may be hard to describe.......as it's an optical illusion of sorts.If you put a "clear" filler in a pore/crack/whatever,a lot of times it will show up as a dark spot if,the hole has any depth to it.Obviously it depends on the species and depth of hole,as always...test it first.Good luck.

[Mark Bolton]

Mark, I use whatever works for the project. If I had a good clear filler, I would use whatever works best with that product. Generally speaking though, I use poly (solvent based) or Waterlox original.

If your running oil based poly (something like minwax) there is, in my opinion, no reason why you shouldn't be able to have a relately flat surface on, for instance, red oak with three heavy coats. If you apply your first two coats relativy heavy with only a light cross grain scuff/de-nib between then a hard cross grain scuff between 2 and 3 your final surface should be nearly flat. On a fourth coat it would be for sure.

That's a lot of drying time in there though but I have done basically the same thing with CV or WB lacquer. Two fairly heavy coats right at the mfrs wet film limit, then cut the bulk of it off sanding cross grain with a block and one or two finish coats. You've cut the bulk of the material off filling the grain so you don't exceed the max dry film.

The cross grain sanding is the key for me with oak. If you sand with the grain or with an RO you just scoop out the pores and never gain much ground.

It'd seem easier to fill the grain with a dedicated product if your using any finish with a long dry time. But if your using something that's ready to sand in 30-60 minutes I'd just build up with finish.

Just my 0.02

[Max Neu]

Whenever I want to fill the grain with just the finish,I reduce the sealer coat 30%,lightly scuff,seal again with a coat reduced 20%,scuff,then proceed as normal with a full strength sealer coat.I have found I get better grain filling with reduced coats because it keeps the finish from "bridging" across the grain,it's more likely to fall into the grain.Of course different methods apply to different products and equipment being used,but that works best for me using 2K poly with an air assisted airless.

[Stan Calow]

Crystalac is what I've used. I forget which retailer sells it - Rockler or Lee Valley.

[Scott Holmes]

When I need a clear grain filler it use CrystaLac® Clear Waterborne Wood Grain Filler. You can also tint it very slightly if you want.

[glenn bradley]

That's clever. I don't think I've heard of that before. By oil finish, are you talking about something like Waterlox?

Yes, PofP is cheap enough that you could pick up a box and try it with your favorite finish. If it didn't work, it would be no big loss. I have used it with BLO, oil based pigment finishes from Cabot's, Minwax, Olympic, and GF as well. Like a good color-match filler the PofP just sort of visually disappears into surface.