poplar platter

[Jim Colombo]

I'm making some Gary Lowe type iridescent painted platters. I'm using poplar and since I need to get a real smooth finish I was wondering if I needed some sort of pore filler as well as a sanding sealer?

Thanks,
Jim

[Bob Bouis]

Does your poplar have prominent pores? It usually doesn't. Sanding sealer ought to take care of it.

[Frederick Skelly]

I recently discovered (always the last to know) that 2 coats of dewaxed shellac will really make paint lay down wonderfully on wood. YMMV.
Fred

[Brian Kent]

I have been doing a lot of poplar pieces lately. On some I used dewaxed shellac, followed by wipe-on Poly, and was taking forever to get a smooth (non-shaggy) finish. The last several pieces I have sanded through 400 and burnished lightly with a paper towel at high speed, before the dewaxed shellac, and then even higher grits after 2 coats. It has provided a wonderful surface for the wipe-on poly. I would love to hear more about Gary Lowe's techniques.

Here is a close-up of the grain after sanding to 400, 1 coat of dewaxed shellac, sanded again at 400 and rubbed with cotton at higher speed.

[robert baccus]

Thick bodied sanding sealer is the product of choice to fill pores in wood--especially large ring pored wood like oak. Brush on the first coat straight out of the can(not big store SS), sand and apply a thinner coat if necessary. The secret to using SS is sanding--hence the name. Get your piece perfectly flat before applying your finish. This is the easy way.

[kevin nee]

What type of sanding sealer do you recommend? Is there a brand name, or is there a homemade formula.
Always looking to improve the finish.

[Brian Kent]

I and many others use Zinnser Bull's Eye Universal Sanding Sealer: 100% Wax Free Formula. That looks like a title that implies several companies buying other companies over the years. Briefly, it is "De-waxed Shellac".

[Jim Colombo]

I have been doing a lot of poplar pieces lately. On some I used dewaxed shellac, followed by wipe-on Poly, and was taking forever to get a smooth (non-shaggy) finish. The last several pieces I have sanded through 400 and burnished lightly with a paper towel at high speed, before the dewaxed shellac, and then even higher grits after 2 coats. It has provided a wonderful surface for the wipe-on poly. I would love to hear more about Gary Lowe's techniques.

Here is a close-up of the grain after sanding to 400, 1 coat of dewaxed shellac, sanded again at 400 and rubbed with cotton at higher speed.

Steve Bonny has a post on this forum entitled "irrisedescent paint techniques" that has a couple of links to videos by Gary Lowe.

Jim