Shellac Grain Filling

[Jerry Thompson]

I have a clock case I will be making with walnut. I did a test using walnut & Timber Mate as a grain filler. I then wiped on two thin coats of garnet shellac and lightly rubbed it down with 0000 steel wool. It looks good.
I then read a long narrative about using just shellac as grain filler. Has anyone done this? If so in your opinion was it worth the effort? The narrative made it seem like a long procedure and it was on walnut also.
Everyone has their opinion, but I would just like to know of other's experiences.

[Stan Mitchell]

It works good on tight grain woods like walnut and maple. I just pad it on. Takes a little longer on open grain woods.

I use shellac all the time to seal and pore fill tight grain woods. On open grain, I'll generally use an actual pore filler.

[Steve Schoene]

Walnut pores are certainly much smaller than those of walnut they are still much larger than those in diffuse porous woods such as maple. I'd use a pore filler for walnut though it could be done with multiple applications of shellac, sanding it back heavily after every few coats. Of course walnut can be french polished if you want a good workout.

[Sam Stephens]

i use shellac for this. instead of sanding back to level out the pores i have a different approach. Once I have enough shellac body, I work on "stretching" the finish w/ just straight alcohol and mineral oil. Kind of like french polish just no pumice. it takes some back and forth w/ the coats but the idea is a thin, even coat.