Wood Grain Filler

[B R Shooter]

Trying to get a wood stock finished. It's an Obeche wood, and I have already brushed on about 5 or 6 coats of polyurethane and sanded back down trying to get the grain filled before I spray the final finish. But the grain "pits" just won't fill this way. So, wondering what else I could use to speed this along?

[Bret4207]

The traditional way was to mix sawdust from the particular piece your working on with linseed oil (IIRC) and use that. If you've started filling with poly I think it's too late to do anything else.

[Wayne Smith]

I'm not familiar with Obeche - is it an open pore wood like Walnut or Oak? At this point any of the standard silica wood fillers would be your best choice. Either that or sand back to wood and start over in the more traditional way.

[gnoahhh]

I have worked with Obeche a few times, using it to build custom yacht interiors. You haven't gone far enough yet. Put on a couple more coats. It'll fill eventually. (I'm assuming you're sanding between coats with 320?) Typically we would go 9-12 coats of Epifanes Spar Varnish, achieving grain fill at around coat 8. Polyurethane is a lot thinner viscosity than Epifanes so might require a coat or two more.

I really dislike using anything but varnish or epoxy as a pore filler for an eventual oil finish. A lot more work, true, but it'll stay put. I've had, on several occasions, proprietary grain fillers shrink into the pores with time, and in one instance had the stuff actually wash out of the pores of a walnut stock in a driving rain storm. When using varnish or polyurethane it's a moot point because sooner or later during the build-coat schedule, the pores will fill and the finish will level out no matter what wood it's going on. Then apply a couple more coats and your done.

These are lessons I learned the hard way in the marine industry. I figure what's good sauce for the goose is good sauce for the gander- thinking in terms of finishes intended for all weather use on a gunstock.

[B R Shooter]

I've been sanding down with 220. The "pits" don't seem to be as many, but it'll take quite a few more before they are filled at this rate. Something that was about as thick that would fill in and stay there would be nice.

I guess I'll keep going.....

[gnoahhh]

You don't have to use 220. 320 is good. Some small risk of sanding scratches showing when using 220 between coats.

Patience Grasshopper! You'll get there! I'll bet it'll look like a million bucks when you're done.

[Wayne Smith]

Take gnoahhh's advice. Anyone who had done marine finish work knows what works better than anyone that hasn't!

[gnoahhh]

We had a saying about marine finishes: "Expensive materials, meticulously applied, and laboriously removed!" (referring to the sanding between coats) The same can be said about gunstock finishing. There just is no miracle quick-and-easy way to get a tough professional finish. One must be prepared to go the whole route. Like most things in life, what you put into it equals what you get out of it.

I just finished a pre-war Euro style stock for a Mauser 98, totally in gloss Epifanes spar varnish. 10 coats, sanding between coats with 320, total grain fill occurred at coat #7. Final coat rubbed out to give a soft luster to the finish. The first person I showed it to swore it was an oil finish. 10 coats sounds like a lot, but with blocking (sanding) it out between coats I figure the total film thickness is probably about as thick as 3-4 coats applied without sanding between them.

[waksupi]

I've done over thirty coats on exhibition grade stocks. If some onehas deep pockets, or you have lots of time, you keep filling and sanding until you get what you want. It's the difference between a $50 finish, and a $1000 finish.

[gnoahhh]

Not many people out there willing to wait and/or pay for fastidious finishes, especially amongst the boat crowd (who need it the most). I had one guy who insisted on an oil finish (teak oil) on his brightwork on a spanking new wooden day sailer. I tried to tell him it would only look good for about 3 months at which point he better be devoted to renewing it, and again and again as long as he owned the boat. Sure enough by that fall he had totally ignored it and naturally the wood (teak) had started to turn silver. By next summer it was almost totally silver and he came begging to have it re-finished, but again he balked at spending the money for a proper varnish job crying that it would just have to be re-done again in another year or so. He was just one of those guys who are clueless when it comes to the responsibilities that come with boat ownership. I know more than a few gun owners who are the same way.