there was a recent post asking for advice on filling mahogany grain. Comments made but no one indicated specifics on mahogany. Bubinga (and mahogany) is much tighter grained than oak. I would not think it would be necessary to “fill” this type of grain. I was thinking of the following path.
Planning new kitchen cabs in bubinga. previously, only have worked with oak, birch etc (never have filled grain on large project). want these cabs to look more like fine furniture. plan to joint & plane all boards first. then fill grain with approx 3 coats of shellac, sanding between spray coats. then will cut all pieces (rails/stiles/panels etc). after assembly will spray with lacquer. i may include a mahogany tint/stain to enrich the bubinga before shellac or with shellac. is this sequence ok? again, i’ve only filled grain on small pieces vs big job, so welcome insight. also if anyone has finished bubinga before, would welcome comments/tips. thanks!
Edited 8/18/2009 4:34 am ET by mikevance
Edited 8/18/2009 4:36 am ET by mikevance
Replies
I have never filled the grain on bubinga. I have done three pieces and have used 2 different finishes and been pleased with both.
Demulune table was finished with oil/varnish. Several coats.
Dining room table and buffet were both finished with waterbased poly and rubbed out.
In all cases they were cut from large slabs with outstanding grain. Sanded to 220 and put the finish on. Sanding between coats of course.
ASK
mikevance ,
You said your plan is to joint and plane all pieces then fill grain with Shellac and then cut all the pieces to size before assembly .
There are so many ways of doing the same things but as a builder of hundreds of kitchens , I have never applied any finish to material before final surfacing , sanding and shaping and machining and cutting to size . This sequence is out of order to me , if you do it that way my guess is after assemble and final sanding and scraping and such you will be left with a very uneven surface that may give you fits trying to even out , why put yourself through that ?
Perhaps 10 guys will come along and tell you the opposite of my thoughts this is speaking from my experience .
regards from Oregon dusty , good luck with your project
Well, at least one guy will join in and say the sequence is wrong. I missed this the first time I read the post. Using shellac as a pore filler is sensible, though three coats may not be quite enough.
In my opinion, the only time pre-finishing can be made to work is after all the parts have been cut, dry-fitted, and finish sanded. Then it might be disassembled, and partially finished before the glue up. This will work, if and only if all your joints have been meticulously cut, the humidity hasn't changed between finishing and glue up, and you have held your mouth right all the time. Frankly without extraordianry precision, it's almost impossible to complete a glue up without needing a bit of touch up sanding, a few strokes of a plane to flush a stile to a rail, or the like. Doing it before the joints have been cut is even more impossible.
Otherwise, the only thing I recommend pre-finish for is floating panels, which can have stain pre-applied so that if any shrinkage occurs you won't get white strips.
Hi Steve ,
Couldn't agree more , also a panel may be the only exception .
regards from Oregon dusty
Like others have said your sequence is off.
My concern would be using lacquer and shellac in a kitchen. Normal nitrocellulose lacquer is not a very good kitchen cabinet finish, it tends to turn white when exposed to water and will start to look bad fairly quickly especially near the sink. A better bet would be conversion varnish or pre catalyzed lacquer both offer much better water resistance. There are also a number of waterbased products that will work well. I would contact homestead finishing and see what he recommends http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com.
I don't see the point in trying to fill the grain with shellac, I think if you want a grain filled look mix up a batch of grain filler in the correct color, trying to do it with shellac seems like it could take a long time. Shellac is very compatible with most finishes but a worry I would have is that it's dissolved by alcohol and that if some booze gets spilled and not cleaned up right away it could seep through a scratch or defect in the finish and cause problems from underneath.
Tom
I see no need to to fill Bubinga with Shellac unless you are using a waterborne finish. I use M L Campbell Duravar on cabinets, another supplier is from Becker Acroma.
My advice to you is try making a small item with Bubinga before making cabinets with it. It is heavy and hard and I am not sure I would want a kitchen made with.
J ,
I hate to rain on someones parade but my thought was it was a bit ambitious to do an entire kitchen in Bubinga also , maybe some accents here and there or panels or moldings .
regards from Oregon dusty
Interesting comments. I should clarify that lacquer is ML Campbell Magnamax (not nitrocellulose). I have finished a bathroom vanity made of padauk using shellac to even the grain, followed by lacquer and it remains beautiful (and quite durable). It only took 3 moderate coats of shellac to get the grain almost dead flat. I also used the sequence I mentioned. I should also clarify that the bathroom sees no direct exterior light so the padauk has not lost its lustrous red tone (5 years plus).
I already have the bubinga and a sample cab looks great. The walls are painted with Lauren's suede textured paint in "yellowstone" (a deep golden hue). The brown hue of the bubinga pops against it.
I have worked with bubinga in smaller scale and it machines well, so I am puzzled by the concern. I had some very favorable feedback from some recognized names in wood finishing.
All that said, I do appreciate the advice and was doing a sanity check. This is a high end job.
I should also give a thanks to Michael D (via email) for suggesting a new filler product called TimberMate (water based with excellent properties). I've ordered some to try.
Edited 8/23/2009 4:07 am ET by mikevance
mikevance,
I think to me what stood out as different was you said you would do all the prep and finish before glue up and final assembly and such .
As a builder of many custom kitchens there are literally hundreds of pieces of wood to join together , doors , frame and panel finished ends , cabinets it would be unrealistic to expect to glue a set of doors up and not do a final surfacing / sanding , how about edge details on door and drawer fronts ?
I am not disputing the finish schedule you mentioned , you just want to do it too soon imho .
regards dusty
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