Need Advice On Wood Grain Fillers

[Dom Garafalo]

I'm making several pepper-mills out of white ash and have found some of the turning blanks have more open pores than others and I would like to fill them in so the finished pepper mills can be smooth with a nice finish.

I have searched the archives on this site as well as the internet regarding grain fillers and the recommendations seem widely varied. I've tried applying multiple coats of Zinsser Seal Coat followed by light sanding but it seems it will take many coats to completely fill in the pores which is too labor intensive and time consuming.

I think well rated wood grain filler is what I probably should use but I'm uncertain which one to purchase and try?

Can someone give me some suggestions on which grain fillers work best and are relatively user friendly?

Thank you

Dom

[Sid Matheny]

Wet sanding with Zinsser Seal Coat will help a lot.

[Don Orr]

There was an excellent article on just this subject in the April 2016 Fine Woodworking magazine. Google should get you there.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Personally, I would put a couple coats, sand between and call it good. I prefer the wood to be a bit rough instead of nice smooth and shiny. And slippery. Just my $0.02.

[Terry Tjaden]

Woodcraft, among others carries a product called Timbermate which is really a wood filler. Thinned with water to a slurry it works very well as a grain filler. It is available in a multitude of colors if you want to accent the grain. Their website explains the technique.

[Tom Giacomo]

Rockler sells a grain filler called Crystallic it's a clear filler. I have used it and it preforms very well. It dries clear so it does not effect the color of the wood.

[John K Jordan]

I know people who love AquaCoat: https://aquacoat.com/products/clear-grain-filler

JKJ