Filling in rough spots

[Bernie Kopfer]

Getting a bowl ready to apply finish the other day I noticed a couple of small areas of slight roughness in the usual spots due to tearout. It was very slight and being that I was lazy I elected to not do the work of sanding them out etc. Applied a waxed base finish and the result is very acceptable to the non woodturner. But I got to thinking.. there might be a product that could fill these areas without affecting final color and finish. Any suggestions?

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I find that slight end grain tearout responds very well to hand sanding - drop a grit or two from the final grit and hand sand with the grain. It doesn't take long and it really improves the final look. Sometimes, if its not responding to sandpaper, a light pass with a good, sharp hand scraper - I use a Stew Mac scraper - takes care of it easily.
Anytime I've tried to fill and hide I've regretted it - faster and easier to just break out the sandpaper first. You wind up sanding whatever fill you use anyway.

[Kevin Jenness]

Crap-in-the-Gap (TM).

Seriously though, just sand it. Filler in tearout will show, plus at this point you are unlikely to get anything to adhere well over wax or to get all the wax out of the tearout before filling.

[Richard Coers]

My Dad was a stern taskmaster, but it paid off pretty well. His words of wisdom; "If you are going to do something, don't do it half-as... So I ask why would you put in all the time to just quit right before the end and declare it close enough? Might as well just use bondo and then paint it if you don't want to learn how to shear scrape or change your tool so you get a clean cut. Probably too harsh of statement for many, but the idea of just throwing up your arms and quitting is not the way to quality craftsmanship.

[Bernie Kopfer]

Thank you for your judgement Richard. I'm sure you mean well, but it comes across as very elitist and off-putting.

[Reed Gray]

Some woods are much more prone to tear out than others. One reason why I don't like soft maples.... Some seem to cut clean no matter what you do. Discovering what to do to minimize tear out is part of the journey. When all else fails, go to the '80 grit gouge' which if you don't know, means abrasives. Power sanding is a must for me. I always use a freshly sharpened gouge for my finish cuts. Scrapers for finish cuts on end grain boxes only, not on bowls. Shear scraping really helps some times. After that, coarse abrasives.

robo hippy

[Bernie Kopfer]

Perhaps a bit of clarification is needed. The 80 grit gouge is one of my favorites. Does sanding sealer fill in minor surface roughness? I’m not looking for a paste filler knowing well that the outcome wOuld result as Richard said ending up needing to be painted. I’ve used CA glue as a filler with some success but usually with a resultant darker area. I’m searching for what other methods turners might have used. Expert use of shear scraping is the ideal if possible, the key word being expert; a status I have not yet achieved.

[John Kananis]

Isn't it actually easier to just go to finer grit abrasives until the surface is uniform?