Colorless Sanding Sealer

[Len Rosenberg]

I'm finishing a natural maple table and would like to use a colorless sealer for the apron and legs. I usually use General Finishes Seal a Cell or Zinsser Seal Coat but both have a heavy amber tint.

Any recommendations? Water borne preferred. Also would be nice if it could be brushed or wiped on, instead of sprayed.

Thanks,

Len

[Steve Schoene]

What is your intended top coat? It 's very few finishes that require any sort of sanding sealer, with the top coat being it's own best sealer in most cases. There are a few high end finishes that do call for a specific sanding sealer but those will tell you specifically what to use. Otherwise, sanding sealer just isn't needed.

Seal a Sell and Zinsser Seal Coat are not anything alike. I sure wouldn't call the Zinsser Seal Coat heavy amber tint. But any finish that "wets" the wood will cause some darkening.

Yes it is true that using any waterborne finish as a first coat will raise the grain, but that's not a difficult thing to deal with. Put on the first of the top coat layers, let it cure and then sand lightly by hand with 320 grit to remove the raised grain before applying the final coats.

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks Steve, the top coat will be General Finishes High Perf. Poly. Wanted to do a sealer coat to reduce any splotching.

Len

[Mike Henderson]

I agree with what Steve said. I'll add, however, that I generally like the slight amber tint that the Zinsser seal coat has and often use it to get that tint. Most water borne finishes are CLEAR - which sometimes makes the surface a bit cold. I find that the seal coat warms the surface a bit.

Mike

[P.S., I also agree with Steve about using a water borne finish without a seal coat. Just hit the surface with a fine sandpaper after the first coat. And look into spraying. It offers a lot of advantages over brushing. You can do small things with a pancake compressor, and the Harbor Freight gravity gun is a good low cost starter gun. Most pancake compressors are LOUD so put it away from you and use a longer hose to your gun. Your ears will appreciate it. Porter Cable had a pancake compressor for $99 at my local HD recently.]

[David Hawxhurst]

super super blonde de-wawxed shellac will seal it with minimum color shift. target makes a clear sanding sealer that is water borne with minimum color shift as well. i probably would just do like the other have suggest and spray gfhp with light sanding after the first coat and maybe before the final coat.

[John TenEyck]

I've never found a sealer that doesn't impart an amber color. Especially if you want to use GF's HP Poly. Even GF's sanding sealer will give the wood an amber tint. SealCoat shellac will darken it even more. So if you want water clear just use the HP Poly and deal with the inevitable grain raising that's going to occur. It won't be bad on cherry or maple, but it can be on oak and other coarse grained woods. And no worries about blotching if you put the HP Poly directly on the wood; won't happen.

John

[Len Rosenberg]

Thanks all for the great advice. I will try going right to the HP Poly and see how it goes. As far as spraying, I'm on the edge of ordering a Fuji turbine system, but it seems that there is a large learning curve, and a lot of time invested in set up and clean up. Have not sprayed before, so a bit apprehensive. But that's another entire thread....

Len