Pore filling for oil finishes

[Quickstep192]

Can those who use oil finishes share what they do to fill pores?

I'm getting ready to do a Mahogany neck with oil and even though I'm not going for high gloss, I would like for it to be smooth with no pores showing. I thought about using regular pore filler or Timbermate, but I'm concerned about the pore filled areas not absorbing the oil properly.

Can someone offer advice or guidance?


Many Thanks

[charles Tauber]

An oil finish is probably the wrong finish if you want filled pores.

[BradHall]

I've had good results with egg whites. Multiple coats of schellac also work well.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I have built a few pieces of furniture which I finished with Watco Oil. While the oil was sopping wet I would sand it with fine wet/dry creating a slurry which filled the pores quite nicely. While the can says 3 coats, I have found 7 to be better.

More recently I used this process on the mahogany neck of the Pernambuco D I documented here. It’s been a few months, and I’ve heard no complaints yet.

[redir]

What exact oil finish are you talking about?

Behlen makes an oil based paste wood filler that is a traditional oil based filler. I've not used it before but I do use one made by Bartlet which is probably the same thing. They will stain the wood so they come in colors labeled for mahogany and so on. A lot of those old guitars you see with nice dark rich mahogany necks and or bodies are filled with this stuff which gives them that look.

You fill then sand back to wood, and probably fill one or two more times. Give it a few days to dry then finish with your oil based finish, nitro, or shellac.

[SMan]

Agree with Bruce. I have apllied Liberon with 600 wet/dry . Been happy with the results.

[Quickstep192]

I haven’t gotten great results wet sanding finish to fill pores. I always wind up dragging the “filler” out of the pores when wiping off the excess finish. Is there a trick?

Would using pumice and a pad (like with French polish) with the oil work?

[runamuck]

I use epoxy to fill open grain - no matter the finish.

[MC5C]

I have pore-filled mahogany by getting a lot of fine sanding dust and rubbing it in with dewaxed shellac. You can do that quite a bit, then sand it back to virtually bare wood. Seemed to work ok.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I thought the op meant oil finish, and if he did shellac or epoxy would impair the oils’ ability to penetrate. If he meant “oil varnish” as in my standard finish, I continue to use solvent based traditional pore filler. I have never succeeded in getting an actual poreless surface, but instead it takes a few coats of varnish to get to a truly flat surface. In order to minimize colorization of the wood, I seal first with Zinnser “SealCoat”.

[Howard Klepper]

Don't use an oil finish, if by that you mean a drying oil such as linseed. If you mean a polymerized oil such as Tru-oil, that will function like an oil varnish, and is a viable guitar finish, but more difficult to do well than, say, spraying lacquer from a rattle can.

Like most people, I have tried lots of fillers. None of them work the way their makers portray them or how you would like them to work (i.e., apply, wipe off, and there you go with a level surface).

I've found every water based commercial pore filler to be awful. They tend to bridge the pores, look like they have filled them, and then sink under the finish.

Oil based semi-paste fillers work okay. And they are easy to pigment. I've continued to use them on necks.

On bodies, I ended up using epoxy if I did not want to color the pores, and if I did, I used ordinary hardware store spackle or drywall mud, colored with dry artist's pigment. They are water-based, but fill and sand better than the products that call themselves pore fillers.

Technique is a separate story. Let's just say that finishing is hard-won skill. Some of the most prominent builders send it out to be done by others.

[Quickstep192]

I’m using Osmo PolyX hard wax oil finish on a banjo neck.

This stuff penetrates like an oil, but it seems to dry quickly like a surface finish rather than curing like a drying oil. While it has poly in the name, it’s not a polyurethane, but rather oils and wax. The end result is a surface that’s really smooth and slick.The only thing was that I didn’t like the look of open pores and, I figured the neck would be even slicker if it were smoother.

I ended up filling the pores by making fine sanding dust and working it into the pores with the first coat with a pad, similarly to how pore filling is done with French polish. So far, it looks pretty good, but we’ll see.