Attachment 222172Attachment 222177Attachment 222176Attachment 222174Attachment 222173Grain filling Red Oak plywood -
My first post - nice site!
I bought a sheet of B-2 Red Oak plywood from a cabinet shop, not the Home Depot junk, to modify an entertainment center with. I am cutting the unit down from 68” high to 30” high x 68” long, and building a new top with some trim around it. The sheet of Red Oak plywood is just down right terrible with what I call tearout of the pores in the cathedral grain areas of the surface. Some of the pore depth damage is as deep as .022 or about 20 mils deep. I guess I will have to use a grain filler to smooth out the surface. I stained a small piece of scrap Red Oak with a mix of 2 shades of MiniWax oil base stain, a quart of Early American w/ 3 tablespoons of Gunstock and got a perfect match of color. It took 3 coats of stain with 15 minutes of penetration time each, and wiping down between each coat to get the color right. That just seems like a lot of time and stain which in the end feels waxy too the touch. There just seems to be very little pigment and mostly mineral spirits to this MiniWax stain. I’m nervous about it giving me problems later, so I’m looking for abetter quality stain. I read some where here on the forum about Sherwin Williams Alkyd stain having more pigment and viscosity.
For a grain filler I searched and found a product called Crystalac that sounds like what I need to fill the pores. All of my work will have to be done by hand as I have no spray equipment. I still don’t understand how I’m going to wipe on a stain, then work in grain filler and sand it back without getting back into the stain. Very carefully guess!
I have researched the internet and my thoughts for a repair or finishing schedule as you call it would be:
1. Sand with 150g lightly
2. Brush and vacuum clean
3. Stain oil base (brand/type?) stain, wipe down and allow each coat to dry
4. Apply 2 coats of Zinsser de-waxed SealCoat, as a sealer/barrier and carefully sanding back each coat, hoping theSealCoat will give me some clearance and protection above the wipe-on stain.
5. Apply 2 or more coats of a grain filler (hoping to fill the tear outs) with Crystalac Wood Grain Filler, ( it’s water base) sanding back each coat after 24 hours dry time
6. Apply 2 more coats of Zinsser SealCoat over the Crystalac as a sealer
7. Ready for top coat of either Shellac or Varnish, wipe on oil base or water base Poly.
8. Note: not sure of the best top coat or the build layers. The oil base stain and water based Crystalac are the reason for the application of the Zinsser SealCoat below and above the grain filler and provides some protection against sanding thru into the stain. I have never done any grain filling either. My research says it will work, but the pro’s here may know a better approach. I don’t have any of the new spray guns only an old DeVilbiss and Binks cup gun and really no place to use it.
9. I attached some photos of the plywood so you could see the grain tears at the pores. The worst part is on one end, starting with a line across the plywood as shown in the photos.
10. Image 1 and 2 will show you a view from distance.
11. Image 3, 4, & 5 shows the line, where it starts.
12. Image 6, & 7 are closer up.


Thanks for any help or schedule anyone can offer.