Peter,
I have been following the steps you suggest in your article re finishing Mahogany for a chest of drawers I built. I mixed the filler with the oil paints as suggested and applied the filler to the Mahogany. Unfortunatley, I must not have removed all of the filler properly, because on the side and top of the case, some percentage of the pores are filled with white. I have tried scrubbing with a 000 scotchbrite pad soaked in minieral spirits and wiping with a rag with mineral spirits. This helped somewhat, but there is still alot of white. What is your suggestion. I was planning on giving it another filling, as I think the pores are not filled completely – do you think that would help, or do I need to get the white out first?
Replies
First things first; what brand of filler and colorants did you use?
It sounds like the filler and color were not fully incorporated. One of the ways I like to strain my filler; after adding and mixing color I'll put a good portion into some cheesecloth that is doubled over. I'll then close the cloth and squeeze it out from the top to the bottom into a container. This takes any lumps out and helps mix everything together.
Also, give me your steps to this point; IE color, wash coat and fill ?
Scrubbing the surface like you did would only work if the filler had not yet set up.
If necessary you could use a brass or bronze brush and lightly scrub the offensive area to open the pores up a little.This could damage the surface a little so a light touch is required. You would need to re-wash coat prior to filling again. Only do this as a last resort.
A few things to consider; you may not have made the color saturated enough. You may need to add a bit more to the filler.
Try refilling a small spot and see if it does the trick. Many times I'll fill a surface twice.
Get back to me on the questions.
Peter
Peter,
My steps were: sand to 400, vacum, wet, sand again with 400, vacum, put lockwood water based dye on, seal with shellac cut to about 1lb (2 parts Zinser seal coat to 3 parts alchohol), when the sealer was dry, put on filler. I think I waited too long before removing all of the filler.
I used the Pore-o-Pac filler and Gablin artist's oil paint. The mixture looked pretty saturated to me, but I did not filter it, so it is possible there were some lumps that got into the pores.
If I use a brass brush, I'm assuming the wood will be pretty scratched up and I would need to sand, dye and seal all over, do you think that is right? Is it woth a try to put another coat of filler on (this time making sure it is well saturated and lump free)?
Thanks for your assistance
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