Sanding Sealer / Stain

[Tim Boger]

I'm building 4 boxes as gifts to the wedding party, the customer has requested dark stained Mahogany.

I plan to use rattle can Gloss Lacquer as my finish, my question is do I want to use a sanding sealer before or after the stain?

I'm thinking sealer then stain ...

Thanks,
Tim

[glenn bradley]

A sealer generally goes on before your other finish. I rarely have problem with mahogany blotching unless it is pretty questionable mahogany from the start. That is, I am aware there will be finish issues long before I make the first cut on some material. The reason I say all this is I wonder why use the sealer at all? If the mahogany has that questionable appearance as I describe, seal, sand, seal again if required, sand, color and add top coat.

The mahogany in this frame was of the sort I speak of.

400537

I used 1lb cut shellac as a sealer and sanded to correct for the really open grain sections. It makes things interesting but, challenging. I then followed through like normal.

[Tim Boger]

Hey Glenn,

The Mahogany I have is very dry and sometime requires several applications of the rattle can Lacquer before it stops sucking it in.... I've started brushing a quick coat of Sanding Sealer, and sanding once dry and top coat ....been working well. The request for a dark stain by my customer is not something I'm real familiar with. Thus this post.

Thanks for your feedback.
Tim




A sealer generally goes on before your other finish. I rarely have problem with mahogany blotching unless it is pretty questionable mahogany from the start. That is, I am aware there will be finish issues long before I make the first cut on some material. The reason I say all this is I wonder why use the sealer at all? If the mahogany has that questionable appearance as I describe, seal, sand, seal again if required, sand, color and add top coat.

The mahogany in this frame was of the sort I speak of.

400537

I used 1lb cut shellac as a sealer and sanded to correct for the really open grain sections. It makes things interesting but, challenging. I then followed through like normal.

[Bennett Ostroff]

If I’m reading this correctly, I would do the stain, then a coat of dewaxed shellac. Then your rattle can lacquer if you want that for the topcoat. The shellac would probably suffice for boxes (and since you want gloss), is less toxic than lacquer, and should stop up the pores faster. Yellow rattle can.

[Wayne Lomman]

Colour goes on before any sealer coats unless you want to hide the grain. So it depends what you want - if you want to see the figure in the timber, stain first then apply whatever top coats. If you don't want the figure to show, seal and then stain. It's a style choice that has no effect on film build. Cheers

[Jim Becker]

Take some scrap of the same material you're working with and try it both ways. Sealing the wood affects the color application and you need to see which order works the best. Be sure to use compatible products, too. With lacquer, you really must use the sealer that the finish manufacturer provides/recommends...it's not a good practice to mix brands.

[Phil Mueller]

Another way to darken the mahogany is to use a dark brown pore filler, or you may want to try something like Watco dark walnut and wet sand. It should enhance the grain, darken, and fill the pores. As Jim said, always good to try a few things out on on the same material.

[Michael Costa]

Here we are again with mixed answers. Lol. I read one reply that said sealer first, and the next reply said sealer after.

[Wayne Lomman]

Michael, both approaches are valid. They just give different results. There is no conflict here. Cheers

[Bill Winter]

1+ what Jim said. Personally I've had good results using dewaxed shellac as a sealer.