Wet Sanding with Tru-Oil to Grain Fill

Tarhead

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I saw this mentioned on the Egg White thread and thought it best to start a separate one. Here is a link to the Manufacturer's instructions: http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/files/Literature/bcref2003.pdf Page 5 of the brochure details the steps of making an Oil/wood dust slurry for grain filling.
Probably not as good with Bacon and Grits as Egg Whites but will work to seal the grain if you just want one product to deal with.

I've done a similar technique with Boiled Linseed Oil (which is the main ingredient in Tru-Oil) and 320 wet-Dry sand paper on a sanding block with Walnut. It takes a while to dry between sessions.
 
I will try it out on the lace wood uke I'm making and will post pics as it progresses. If it can fill lace wood pores than it can fill any pore.
 

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It works with Danish oil as well. Pretty well anything that works up a slurry and you force it into the pores, then dries hard will do the trick. Robbie O'Brien from Red Rocks Community College has a huge number of Luthier Tips D'Jour videos. In one he goes through various pore filling techniques that some of you might find helpful and interesting. Search for them of YouTube.
 
The problem with any of these organic fillers is that they look fine when they are freshly applied. After a year it looks like you've done no grain filling at all. They all shrink back to some extent. So if you are looking for a lasting, pore filled surface, you may be better off with something like epoxy. In any case, the longer you can postpone sanding and buffing after applying the finish, the better off you'll be.
 
before and after: 1 fill coat of true oil than next day did the wet sand pore filling. repeated that step once more than used the methods laid out by true oil usinf my finger to apply a heavy coat, let soak in for a bit than wipe off excess ( used coffee filters to wipe off) After 6 coats, leveled with 320 grit than light sand with 800 than one more ocat of true oil. I'd say I have 85% pore coverage. I am going to live with it for a while, see how it holds up and maybe in 6 months do another couple coats.
 

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