Need Advice On Finishing Oak Project With Grain Filler and Target Coatings.

I’m getting ready to start a chair project using oak. It will be finished with two coats of Target Coatings USH3000 shellac sealer and then3-4 coats of EM6000 lacquer.
Most of my chair projects are walnut, cherry, or maple and I never use stain or grain filler. With this oak chair I plan to use Crystalac WB grain filler and would like some advice on the proper finishing sequence.
1. Grain filler, shellac sealer, and EM6000 top coat.
2. Shellac sealer, grain filler, top coats.
Or perhaps
3. Shellac sealer, grain filer, more shellac sealer, topcoats.
Thanks for the help.

Crystalac's directions say you can't put shellac over it, although maybe TC's WB stuff is OK. But you can put shellac over AquaCoat WB grain filler.

John

Thanks John,
I didn't know that. I'm going to call Crystalac now to find out. Jim

So I called Crystalac and they said any WB product should be okay but recommended I test it on scrap first. They also recommended the WB shellac (or WB sealer) first and then the filler.

For additional filling, you might want to consider the new EM7000 high build version of the water borne lacquer product, too. I'll also suggest you communicate with Jeff Weiss at Target about adherence of products over the filler choices you have, too. He will likely have recommendations of what works and what doesn't.

I talked to Jeff Weiss about the USH3000 and EM6000 and it's on the way. At the time I didn't plan on grain filler so it wasn't part of our conversation, I also didn't plan on oak at the time so all we talked about was a finish for walnut, cherry and maple. I could call him again but hate to be a pest, Thought I might get the answer here.

Jim, you should call Jeff again. He wants happy customers and you have questions. From personal experience, oak can be a problem with at least some TC products. Best to get all the info. you can from THE expert on TC's products.

John

According to Jeff the selection of products for oak is fine. He couldn't comment on the Crystalac Grain Filler as he had not used any for several years. I did some test with the wood I plan to use and they turned out great. The grain filler had good clarity and didn't effect the amber tone of the USH 3000 shellac. Three thin coats of EM6000 made the test pieces look like glass.
I've been trying to switch from oil to WB finish for about four months and I've tried several different brands of finish, plus spending a lot of money on better spray equipment. Target Coatings has giving me the best results of any brand I've tried and I finally feel good about the switch to WB.

Glad it's working out for you Jim. There are several good WB products out there and it's well worth the effort to make the switch.

So what was the order of products you used?

John

Coat of USH3000 shellac sealer, Crystalac WB grain filer, second coat of USH3000 shellac sealer, three thin coats of EM6000 semi-gloss 6000 WB lacquer. Looks great, but I have a gallon of EM6000 satin coming tomorrow and I'm going to spray a fourth coat of that. The semi-gloss had more gloss than I expected. Seems like a lot of coats, but I don't mind, having products that works makes it fun again, plus I finally got my new Fuji spray station adjusted/working the way it should.

Jim, make sure you stir the finish THOROUGHLY to insure you get the sheen you are expecting. But Semi-gloss is often a lot "glossier" than expected on these clear finishes. I pretty much only use Satin and even it is shiny to a certain extent. (Stir only...never shake!)

Thanks for that info., Jim. Like Jim Becker, I find most WB clearcoats to be higher gloss than the label suggests. Anything above satin to me is too glossy for me. Also, the more coats you put on the glossier it will look, regardless of the original sheen. I'm not saying it will look clear, but the surface reflection will be higher.

Anyway, my tidbit of info. here is that you can buy WB flatters from Hood Finishing and adjust the sheen downward to suite your taste. I've used it several times to cut the sheen and it works w/o issue. And it's cheap.

John

Thanks John,
I didn't know about the WB flatter, I keep that in mind. Jim