Grain Filler

[onedash]

This post is mostly to say how frutrating this junk is. Im working on raised panels out of oak. Well I test stained some and it looked nasty. SO i bought some neutral (WHITE) grain filler. I put it on and have been sanding my butt off. I never should have put it on the curved parts. The rest will only go on the flat parts. I hope I dont ruin everything. I dont think all the joints will be as tight as they were because of all the stinking sanding. I hope the stain looks much better with this junk or I will not be happy.

[Tundra_Man]

I feel for you, man.

Grain filling is one of the most miserable jobs. The worst part about it is you usually have to do lots of coats before you get all the pores filled. It's easy to give up and say "good enough." Done right, though, it rewards you with a glass smooth surface.

I usually guesstimate how many coats of grain filler I'll need, then actually apply double that amount. Even then, I still find the occasional pore here and there that wasn't fully filled.

Clear epoxy works well as a grain filler, but doesn't sand real easy. The up side is you don't have to use as many coats.

[AlanJ]

One of the reasons I'm not a big fan of oak. I much prefer maple.

[onedash]

well i finished sanding the pieces I put this junk on. It wont take stain. Well barely. I basically wasted some wood. 3 solid panels, 4 plywood panels, 3 rails and 6 stiles. Hopefully I can use them somewhere else in the project but I doubt I'll ever get them sanded enough to take stain.
I have no idea why I didnt test one small scrap piece. So at least $30 in wood ruined plus over $20 for the filler and stupid spreader and WAY to much time.
I dont care for oak either. Its the first time I have ever used it, My wife picked it cause it was cheaper.

[gerti]

Bummer! Thanks for sharing your experience though, might save someone else from that misery!

Just out of curiosity for people who may know: does a shellac wash coat followed with gel stain work on oak? I have used that on maple where it worked great, but obviously oak is quite a bit different.

[drumpriest]

Onedash, what product did you use?? I would like to avoid it....

thanks,

[onedash]

It was Behlen water based grain filler.

[onedash]

I just saw Norm use grain filler. He stained it first then put varnish on then put the grain filler on, sanded restained then put on poly.

Guess I screwed up. I will test that mathod on a piece of scrap.