Black Walnut and grain filling

[Richard Maurer]

I've got ALOT of black walnut (2,000 bf) that was cut and air dried since 1999 in a barn. Moisture content is around 10-12%. May or may not use for furniture since the MC is a little high right now for that, but I'm doing a lot of small projects, e.g. wine presentation boxes, mantle pieces, etc.

Walnut has an open grain and I'm looking for a good approach for filling the grain and enhancing the beauty of the wood. Any recommendations on particular products for filling and your approach that has worked well would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Jim Becker]

Richard, the MC is fine...and about what you will always have with air-dried stock. (what I use nearly all the time) While walnut is considered "open grained" it actually fills pretty easily during the normal finishing process in my experience, at least with the walnut off my property that I've been working with. I use BLO followed by de-waxed shellac with this species. Sometimes the shellac is the final finish; sometimes, I spray with Target USL water borne if it is appropriate. (I really like the shellac on walnut, however...and you can pad it out to a smooth finish with outstanding clarity) If you do need to use a filler, a clear paste filler, such as Behlens, applied and worked after you seal the wood with the shellac or other sealer will do a nice job.

[Richard Maurer]

Thanks for the quick reply Jim. I'll try the shellac without filler first and see how that works out. I've got some blond dewaxed flakes that are just asking to be employed! Still working the bow-front vanity and going into glue-up today!

[Jim Becker]

One of the reasons to use the shellac with the walnut is that it enhances the color substantially...especially with air-dried material that already has such wonderful color. I cannot believe how beautiful the two pieces in our TV room look (one a Shaker-style end table and one a Nakashima-style NE table) after a year with the shellac finish on them. They just glow. (And have stood up to the beating of the kids, too...poly? Schmally! The shellac is wonderful.

[Steven Wilson]

I like to apply a coat of orange shellac and then apply a dark brown paste wood filler. The shellac acts as a sealer and keeps the pigment in the filler from darkening wood outside of the pores too much. After the filler I like to apply another coat of shellac to seal everything and then go on to the final finish (usually shellac or ArmRSeal).

[Carl Eyman]

I tried to post this Sunday AM, but cable was down all day. Two years ago when Working Wood in the Eighteenth Century at Colonial Williamsburg was doing clocks, Mack Headly was doing a walnut door for a tall clock waist. During the conference (three days) he put enough shellac on to fill the pores. He made an issue of this so many of us checked his progress during breaks. It took about 10 coats I think, but they were filled. When I made a walnut clock later that year I used the same technique but sanded more often than he did. After the final sanding I applied Waterlox as a wipe on to bring the gloss to where I wanted it. I am using the same technique on a desk I'm making except I'll use Rock Hard Varnish on the wear surfaces of the desk for protection. As far as grain filling it takes me about 7 or 8 coats of shellac to get them well filled.