Dear Mr. Gedrys,
When filling knots with epoxy and crushed turquoise, should this be done before or after finishing the wood with grain filler and tinted shellac? My inclination is to apply the grain filler and shellac first, cover the finished wood and add the turquoise slurry to the knots. My only concern is if I overfill the knots, how do I level them out, without damaging the finish. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
Sincerely
Rick
Replies
Rick,
My inclination on this would be to;
wash coat with shellac, fill the grain, seal the filler when dry with shellac. Sand the shellac lightly as needed and clean off the dust.
I don't know how viscous your epoxy is but if you used a thin applicator like a plastic squeegee or old credit card you may be able to force it into the hole and cut it off pretty evenly in one or two shots.
If any further smoothing and sanding was required I would try and keep it localized to just the epoxy and use a light touch.
After it cured I would seal it with shellac, sand as required and then add my topcoat.
Peter
Dear Peter,Thank you, if I have understood your suggestion, you are saying to add epoxy and turquoise to the knots after the alder has been tinted with shellac, mixed with Trans Tint. I like your idea of leveling the epoxy slurry with an old credit card of plastic trowel. By the way, I have been told that air bubbles will tend to form in the epoxy slurry, which can be easily removed by heating the slurry with propane torch. Has that been your experience? To this point, I have applied both a wash coat of shellac and paste grain filler, according to your suggestions in the latest issue of Fine Woodworking. I greatly appreciate your help.Rick
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