Interesting, but puzzling

[Ken Garlock]

Well good people I have been butchering away on some QSWO. In general, I am a fan of no stain is good stain. Why cover up some expensive wood?

Since David Marks is a fan of Seal A cell, and Arm R Seal, I thought I would use it. I tried several ideas on some scrap white oak, and a little surprised with the results.

First: I did the standard application of one coat of Seal A Cell and three coats of Arm R Seal. (ARS)

Second: I applied one coat of Zinsser Seal Coat shellac followed by three coats of ARS.

Third: I applied one coat of shellac, then one coat of Seal A Cell, followed by three coats of ARS.

Fourth: I applied three coats of ARS to bare white oak.

In each case the test boards were lightly sanded with P320 paper, and blown clean with compressed air. After the last top coat, I applied a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax. All coatings were applied using clean T-shirt materials.

Now for the results:

They all look the same.

Not exactly what I had expected.
OK, what was I expecting? I thought there would some difference between using a sealer and not using one.
It would appear that the use of Shellac and/or Seal A Cell as a wood sealer is a waste of time and money. The 3 coats of ARS produced the same finished appearance as the cases using sealer.
The first coat of finish, sealer or top coat, set the color/tone for the final appearance. It also appears that the coating were true to their label by giving a clear finish.
One mitigating circumstance might be the fact that white oak is a very tight grain wood.


I am not asking for guidance as I am happy with the results. But, I thought I would pass along what I thought was a tiny bit surprising.

[Leo Graywacz]

Usually sealers are for ease of sanding. A lot of products are self sealing so using them straight out of the container works just as well, just a little more elbow grease when sanding. Glad it worked out for you.

[Tony Bilello]

when it is sanded, it will not raise the grain again. As ststed, most finishes dont require a sealer anymore.

I am also a "no stainer" and I only use lacquer. The results would look exactly like what you already have. With no stain and a clear finish you will see the grain better than any other method.

The only recommendation I would make to you is that you dont need to sand all the way up to 320. If you performed tests on your sanding using several boards you will find that you wont need to go past 180.
If you made several samples, the 330 grit would look best after the first coat. After 2 coats the 330 and 220 will look alike and by the 3rd or 4th coat the 180 will look just like the 330.


I am glad you took the time to make test samples. I have done that many years ago. I hope you continue to make more tests and post your results. You will find that there is not much involved in finishing once you know what look you are going after. For a relatively simple task it seems to get overly complicated with lots of books written on the subject. Throw away the books and talk to the manufacturers tech reps. I have done furniture finishing for years and still do in both my shop and on contract with a local custom furniture maker.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Tony.

The only reason I used P320 was that I had a piece handy. My sanding was very light, say 2 passes over the sample. I used some 180 for the basic raw wood.

Yes, I will keep on playing in the paint can.