Whats best to fill coarse grain?

[Bill Wyko]

I've been working with Wenge which is a beautiful wood but it has a very coarse grain. No matter how much you sand it, it still has grain you can feel to the touch. I'm down to the finsh on my latest segmented vessel and I'd like it to be smooth as glass.:D

[David Walser]

Bill,

There are several approaches: If you just want to fill the grain without hiding the open pores, a good sanding sealer should work for you. (Many use thinned down lacquer, but there are other types of sealers available.) You apply the sealer after you've removed any tool marks with your first or second sanding. Then sand the sealer down to the bare wood -- leaving the pores filled with the sealer flush with the surface.

Another approach is to wet sand using your intended finish as the lubricant. Again, after removing any tool marks with your first sanding, wet sand using your final finish (such as lacquer or oil). This allows the "dust" from the sanding to fill the pores. Allow the finish to dry and then sand down to the bare wood. This should leave the pores of the wood filled with dust/finish and flush with the surface. It almost makes the open pores disapear.

If you want to accent the open pores, you can "lime" the piece by using a light (or dark) color of wax. This time, sand until you are almost all the way through the grits. Then, apply your colored wax, filling the pores of the wood with a contrasting color (dark wax for light wood, light wax for dark wood). Remove any excess wax with a soft clothe (or paper towel if the piece is spun on the lathe), then sand you last grit and apply your finish (make sure your finish is compatible with the wax). This should really accent the grain of your turning. Note: Some people finish sand and apply the first coat of finish before adding the liming wax. Others completely finish the piece before waxing. This makes it less likely that the wax will affect the finish's ability to cure properly. That's not the way I learned how to do it.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Bill, you have chosen a very difficult task – making wenge glass-like smooth. If you go the sanding sealer route, it will take many, many coats. Instead of sanding the sealer between coats, you might try using a handheld cabinet style scraper (as long as your piece is still mounted). Apply sealer (I like Bullseye Universal), let dry, scrape off back down to bare wood, and repeat as many times as necessary. A faster method might be to use an epoxy resin type of finish. I don’t have much experience with that stuff; maybe someone else can jump in here. Also, instead of liming wax, a very neat effect can be achieved by bleaching wenge.

[Bill Wyko]

The part that I'm going to have trouble with is that this vessel is segmented so i don't want color effecting the lighter wood. I guess the sealer would be the best option. Thanks very much. I'll post pic tomorrow.

[Bill Wyko]

I wasn't going to show this piece until I finshed it but Heres a pic of the piece I'm talking about. Someone else also had told me about bleaching wenge.Could it be done after the piece has been turned? This one has simulated turquoise in it, would the bleach effect that? I'll try that Bullseye sealer tonight and see how it works. Thank you very much.

[Jerry Clark]

WOW Bill that is really nice-- nice form and good choice of contrasting colors. :) I don't think the bleach is a good idea-- probably ruin the colors. :eek: I believe that the sanding sealer is the best with lots of elbow grease.

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Bill, bleaching will add a lot of character to wenge. With everything that you've got going here, you don't need more character in the wood. Quite the contrary, bleaching would diminish the effectiveness of your segmentation.

[Jonathon Spafford]

I think that piece looks perfect the way it is... you do a great job on it. I like the color combos.

[John Hart]

Bill, how is it that you skipped the Beginner's Phase of turning? I'm just amazed. Nice lookin' piece you got there.;)

[George Tokarev]

Don't see a couple of traditionals here, so might I suggest an oil-based paste filler, stained or unstained, your choice. Norm uses one all the time on TV, as does Marks. Technology is the same on round as on flat work. If you fill with a stained version for contrast, seal the wood first with some shellac or lacquer-based sealer.

Then there's French Polish, where you push and hold the filler into the wood with shellac. If you do the traditional with pumice, be sure to use something tough like linen as the cover for your pad. The abrasive eats and spreads cotton fiber from the more normal T-shirt applicator. Though I prefer cotton muslin to T-shirts as applicator and polishing rags anyway.

[Dominic Greco]

Bill,
Here's what I do when working with open grained hard woods like Osage, Ash, and Walnut. (BTW, Russ Fairfield taught me this one. So the credit belongs to him)

Take mineral spirits and varnish. The varnish should be Spar Varnish with Alkyd Resins. And the clearer the better. Make a 50/50 mix up and wet sand on the lathe. I dry sand to about 200, then start wet sanding back at 150, 200, 320, 400, 600, and burnish with craft paper. Between grits, wipe off the excess slurry with a clean(ish) rag dampened with mineral spirits. The slurry will fill the pores and give you a super smooth finish that is hard to beat.

After you're all done, wipe it off one more time and let it sit for a a day or so. You want this to be dry and hard before you apply you're finish. I usually apply Watco's Danish Oil and allow this to dry for a day or so before buffing.

This finish will also work on stiffening up punky wood. But it only goes in so far. I imagine that soaking a blank in it would really help it to penetrate more.:D

I've had other turners come up to me and ask "What the hell did you finish this with? How did you get it so smooth?" They're surprised when I tell them that it's all in the wet sanding.

Only one problem with this finish (besides needing to be wear old clothes when doing this), with segmented bowls, it will carry color over to adjacent woods. So light wood will get "stained" darker. You need to seal the lighter woods with a coat or two of shellac or Lacquer first.

Good luck!