shellac on veneered projects

[Joel Wesseling]

On veneered projects is there a way to grain fill with shellac and not sand back to the surface.. Then apply top coat..

On deep grain veneers that take many coats of grain filler and sanding 2 or 3 times back to the veneer its hard to keep from over sanding..

Thanks, Joel

[Sean Hughto]

I like shellac on my veneer projects. It does take several coats to fill the open grained woods completely. By using a cork sanding block I've avoided sanding through between coats.

[sheldon pettit]

On veneered projects is there a way to grain fill with shellac and not sand back to the surface.. Then apply top coat..

On deep grain veneers that take many coats of grain filler and sanding 2 or 3 times back to the veneer its hard to keep from over sanding..

Thanks, Joel

Interesting question......

Yes there is, "but" it's very time consuming. It would also require a 4-5 lb. cut of shellac as compared to other methods requiring less thick material. I have personally done it but again only when friction polishing surfaces [french polishing] which means my coatings over the filled grain were also shellac, not other finishes. If your interested and have the time and patients i will describe the process, other wise I will let others offer their remedies.

[Scott Holmes]

I sometimes fill with blonde dewaxed shellac... Usually a 3#-4# cut appling two or three heavy coats then sand it back so the shellac is only in the pores. I usually give it a few days to completely dry (unless I'm in a hurry) then seal it with a 2# cut and top coat. This produces a mch crisper, clearer, sharper grain lines than paste wood fillers.

Generally I do this on mahogany or walnut, not on red oak or ash. For these larger pore woods I use Crystalac clear filler.

[Joel Wesseling]

I love shellac and these responses are fabulous, thank you
Trying to come up with shellac finish that I can get good at and thats repeatable..Have Small heated finish room with limited spraying so manual is best..

Sean, your project is amazing.. I'll look for cork sanding block.. Have a some small practise projects that are filled and needing sanding..

Sheldon, the idea of shellac only, build up the material and finish the surface is something I would strive for.. Especially with cabinets I'm working on now that are large and heavy that should stay in one place until done, maybe one side at a time... The veneer on these is padauk but will likely spray current pair outdoors as I,m more confident I can get it right for right now... Will be doing more of these large speakers and can learn on smaller item first...
The last set I did I tried shellac only with heavy build up and finished the surface.. Lots of mistakes and experimenting along the way so finish is fine from a distance..
I was using a ROS and you can see the swirls.. ..Now hand sanding in straight lines even on the bare wood. This is so much nicer looking and goes pretty fast..
So, yes I would love to learn this..... I'd put something small together first and start there.Should I do this and then post again as a starting point?

Scott, I also would like a easier way to fill and I see Rockler has the Crystalac.. Maybe this could be good for Padauk.. I have System 3 epoxy but haven't opened it..
I mixed up a 2lb cut for filling.. I'll change it to 4 and guess I missed that bit of info earlier and this should help to not reach the wood as many times

One problem is when I think I have a level surface and apply top coat of shellac I still get bit of pores showing.. Maybe I'm not completely grain filled, not sure now.
Also, I'm using a card scraper to get close and then sand to the wood surface.. The scraper works excellent and rotate it so it dosent heat up to much but when I final sand it seems I have to extremely careful to pull the shellac out in places especially at corners. This seems to happen to easily..

Joel




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[sheldon pettit]

Joel: ""Sheldon, the idea of shellac only, build up the material and finish the surface is something I would strive for.. Especially with cabinets I'm working on now that are large and heavy that should stay in one place until done, maybe one side at a time... The veneer on these is padauk but will likely spray current pair outdoors as I,m more confident I can get it right for right now... Will be doing more of these large speakers and can learn on smaller item first...
The last set I did I tried shellac only with heavy build up and finished the surface.. Lots of mistakes and experimenting along the way so finish is fine from a distance..
I was using a ROS and you can see the swirls.. ..Now hand sanding in straight lines even on the bare wood. This is so much nicer looking and goes pretty fast..
So, yes I would love to learn this..... I'd put something small together first and start there.Should I do this and then post again as a starting point?""

SAM: Sure that would work, put it together and start a new post at that time. On reading Scott's reply, mine is similar to his only i use a product called mountain crystals which are clear when wetted out to help fill the pores also and retard the shellac and work in small areas at a time a sq. foot or so.. On the cork blocks - you can get them from Mohawk or behlens dealers, one thing though is to first sand the sides of the block with 100 grit paper till they are perfectly flat so that flatness will transfer to the surfaces and give you a glass flat surface to apply your finish to ok? Normally what i will do is spray the block black, let dry, and then sand all the black off - an indicator that i have a dead flat surface to work with once all the black is removed.

[Joel Wesseling]

Thanks.

Thinking now I can try the French Polishing on the Back(Hard Maple) of these speakers and if it works out then do the other sides as well..
I'm Veneering the other side now and be done in a week..

JoelRear Panel Crossover Opening.jpg

[sheldon pettit]

maple really doesn't have to bi filled, a better project would be oak/ash/walnut/mahogany for need of filler. But i will leave that up to your descretion. Maple will not really show or tell you how well a filler is doing as an open grain will. Personally that's the only way i can judge how well the filler is doing it's job.

[Joel Wesseling]

maple really doesn't have to bi filled, a better project would be oak/ash/walnut/mahogany for need of filler. But i will leave that up to your descretion. Maple will not really show or tell you how well a filler is doing as an open grain will. Personally that's the only way i can judge how well the filler is doing it's job.

Ok, thanks.

Have something else in mind then..

[sheldon pettit]

You could use Scott's method which would work really well on the maple or even cherry or other close grain woods if you want.

[Joel Wesseling]

You could use Scott's method which would work really well on the maple or even cherry or other close grain woods if you want.

I'm dissolving a 4lb cut of super blonde now. The other sides are Padauk so could take a bit to fill the grain...

[Joel Wesseling]

Interesting question......

Yes there is, "but" it's very time consuming. It would also require a 4-5 lb. cut of shellac as compared to other methods requiring less thick material. I have personally done it but again only when friction polishing surfaces [french polishing] which means my coatings over the filled grain were also shellac, not other finishes. If your interested and have the time and patients i will describe the process, other wise I will let others offer their remedies.

I want to try this on my Paduak veneered cabinets as I had to over sand the veneer in areas..

Can I get a Satin finish with this process?

Thanks, Joel