Grain filling

JLTibbetts

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I'm working on a pair of speaker cabinets that will have walnut burl on the front baffles. My first time working with burl. The final finish will be a wipe on poly semi gloss.
How should I fill the grain in the burl? Or should I?
I have some 3 lb cut shellac that would build pretty quickly.

spkrcab.jpg

spkrbaf.jpg
 

Tony

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That's a gorgeous chunk of wood! I'd not fill it personally. Tony
 

Sprung

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If it was me, I'd use that heavy cut of shellac, sand back every coat or two until it's all smooth and the grain is filled. (Please note: that is just what I'd do - I don't have any experience filling grain, but will probably be doing so on some upcoming projects.)
 

phinds

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I didn't realize it was veneer. Maybe @phinds can chime in.
Since you can't see the ends you can't tell from that 2nd pic. If the ends show face grain then you know it's veneer, although with a burl it could be hard to tell even then. You'd have to examine it closely to see if the grain lines merge from face to side.

As for how to fill the grain, I have no idea.
 
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NeilYeag

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Agree with Matt, shellac is really a pretty fool proof way to do this. I would start with a really light cut first few coats and then move to a heavier cut as you build some coverage. Super light sanding after it is built up, and you should end up with a really nice finish. Nice wood by the way!
 

phinds

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I don't know that it's best to start with shellac since I've never thought of it as a grain filler, but then I use a 1lb cut. If you are going to use shellac, I agree w/ Neil that you should start w/ a thin cut, not a 3lb cut, and put several layers of that on first, then a heavier cut. I started out using a 3lb cut but found that it didn't go on evenly all the time so now I always do a 1lb cut even though it means quite a few more layers. But it dries really quickly.
 
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