To Fill or Not to Fill, the grain that is

[Lewis DeJoseph]

Good Morning everyone,

I have started cutting my trim from 4/4 oak and have created a baseboard and window and door trim that I am finishing with a satin poly. I am wondering if I should fill the grain befor I finish it? Any thoughts?

Lewis

[Jay Jolliffe]

I guess it depends on if you want to see the pores or grain of the wood. You can use clear grain filler if your not going to stain or a colored grain filler if you want to see the grain.....You can also put on a few heavy coats of poly & sand it so that fills the grain also. That means you have to do extra coats of poly....

[Mike Lang]

Hey Lewis,
I'm fairly new to woodworking. I've have built a few projects with red oak and not filled in the grain. Last month I made an oak threshold for my mother-in-law and decided to fill in the grain. I thought it was a tremendous improvement and wish I had done so on my previous projects. Try a small test and see if you agree.
Good luck,
-Mike

[Lewis DeJoseph]

I should mention that I am using red oak and was thinking that by filling the pores i would us a tinted filler to add some contrast. Also I think that the trim will be easier to clean if it is filled. Also it is a fairly straight mission type of trim, so no ogees or curves.

Thanks for your opinions!

Lewis

[Jim Becker]

I would think that in most cases, folks don't fill trim work because it's usually installed and then finished. Filling the grain will be more difficult in that situation. If you are very good at trim installation, you may be able to partially pre-finish including the grain filling and then complete finishing after installation, but you'll have to be very particular about your joinery, even in a "new" home that has "relatively" true corners and level windows.

[Walt Caza]

Hi Lewis,
Only you can decide what works for you, so I agree that a test sample would be your most meaningful approach...
As for my view on it, I have always been a no filler, no putty man.
I fear it makes the covered up gaps even more visible, and is an
obstacle between the real wood, which I appreciate, and is why I buy tools in the first place...
And a band-aid where surgery was needed!

However, if you want to add contrast, maybe it will please you.
I do know that there are differing paste fill products available, they are not all the same,
and also that applying it is a skill unto itself, which may affect your mileage.

These are 2 quick snapshots of the end table I posted last week.
Just satin poly same as you, while it doesn't add contrast, these raking
views show the top does not look porous at all... (I waited, but the sun refused to peek out to help rake across these pics, shucks)
The first coats of finish behave as pore filler anyway.
I would seek the soft to hard grain contrast with oil stain.

Purist might argue that my poly top treatment is also an obstacle to the real wood, but I was going for a cola-spill kinda durable living surface on
just the top. I intended the table to work for me, I was not ready to spend much energy working to baby the table!
Personally, I would not paste fill grain on oak house trim.
just my thoughts,
good luck with that,
Walt