Need some help with grain filler and Tru Oil

[George Sauer]

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

I need some advice.  I have a second hand Warmoth Walnut P bass body.  When I recieved it it had a metalic blue paint job over a white primer.  I stripped that suceesfully (99.99%), but the white primer remains in some of the deeper end grain pore spaces.  I have purchased Lawrence Mcfadden pore filler (Rosewood) but I have some concerns about using it under a Tru Oil finish.  Can I apply the grain filler directly to the Walnut with no sealer then apply the Tru-oil over it?  Do I need to seal, fill, seal, then oil?  Should I regroup and get a water based filler (Stew Mac)?  My goal is not so much to fill the grain, but to hide the remaining white primer in the end grain pores.  Any suggestions or help is welcome and appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

George

 

[kdownes]

These instructions may help if you haven't seen them already:

http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/truoil.htm

I'm following this basic procedure for testing various filling options for a black korina VIP build I'll be doing shortly, although I'm using Stew Mac's water based Colortone fillers.  You'll notice that Luthier's Mercantile suggests alternating Birchwood Casey Sanding Sealer and grain filler, and ending the filling process with a thick coat of the Sanding Sealer to fill any micro pores that might be left after the filler coats, then sanding to a smooth surface.  So far on my test pieces I've found this process to work very well -- you end up with a very smooth surface for applying the Tru Oil.

As for hiding the remaining primer (and I must acknowledge that I am most definitely a beginner here, so I'd go with what the experts on this forum have to say) if you want to be absolutely sure no white primer will either show through or disrupt your new finish in any way, you may want to keep sanding until you've removed all the filled wood.  I recently refinished a Dean Vendetta that came with a camo finish and a similar white primer layer.  It was a royal pain to remove, but I think the stain I applied looks much better for having gotten rid of all of it.  It's a lot of sanding, but the final product will probably look better.