Patrick from Davis - asks about CA grain filling

[-CB-]

Patrick - Well, I have run into an ash body with a lot of grain to fill.  The wood has a treatment on it, then I sanding sealed it, and started in with the urethane grainfill.  This is taking for flipping ever.  I cannot sand all that much because the treatment gets killed very quickly by the sandpaper.  I am torn about trying the CA grain fill.  It has to stay clear and I can't kill the finish, but I am tired of grainfilling with urethane only to feel like it doesn't ever fill anything.  Suggestions?  I will pre-guess, "Patience."  Thanks
Patrick

 

[-CB-]

He sent that to me in PM, but really, everyone can benefit from it.

My reply thus far: (before I pasted the PM's here)

Wella.....

Herfe's what we needa know.  What is the final finish and color?  What effect are you looking for?  What is this urethane sealer stuff?

For moi - I did a black grain fill with the StewMac stuff.  That would normally have taken three to four applications to totally grain fill... maybe more.  Ash is like the Grand Canyon....   I got tired after the StewMac stuff, and just went with CA over it.  The body has sat for a yeaer here un-finished, no issues.  I know from Frank Ford (www.frets.com), arguably the #1 man on finishes on the planet, that he uses CA all the time as a cheap filler.  He does acoustic only, but the same applies to all woods - solid body, cabinets, tabletops... its wood.

CA, once really dry is good to go - under any finish, except maybe oils.  The problem is not the oil itself, but the fact that CA will be a bit shiny or glossier than any surrounding wood and the oil may accentuate that.  Thinking here... you can probably just do a steel wool job on the CA and use oil.  Test it furst.

The CA stays clear.  I got a bottle of the stuff from Home Depot in about  a 2 oz bottle, and used all of it and maybe a little more on the body I did.

When you use it - I just "drop filled" the deep spots and smeared that onto the surrounding area with a finger.  Psst... I said to use a glove here on line, but I just used my finger.  It peels off in a day (sheesh).

Sand that with a sanding block after a day or so.  Dont use your fingers - GOT TO USE A BLOCK when leveling or your chasing your tail.  You want to sand it with FINE paper, like 320 non-clogging (the better grade stuff).  Then hit it with 400 non clogging.  It will begin to gloss up a little and you can see where you missed and grain still needs filling.  Repeat with more CA in those areas, smear it out and let it dry.  Level. Repeat, Level.  Thing with the CA, is it a rather rapid process, where you get good filling with minimum effort and time.

 

[stubhead]

I though I'd stickie in here, it'd probably be a good idea to keep a bottle of superglue remover around (duh), but only use it in dire straits, as little as possible if you glue yourself together - you do not want that solvent soaking into your skin and bloodstream. Just let the glue dry and it will peel off, as the man says. Same goes for epoxy remover - it's OK to use these to clean off your tables, tools, etc. but that's when you really need the rubber gloves. These solvents are bad stuff.

Glue = happy mellow nature-loving ccasion14:

glue remover = GOLGOTH THE DESTROYER

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Oh I know about CA.  Acetone removes it well.  Fingernail polish remover in a pinch.  Off to home depot I go.  For those who are interested...

The body is a swamp ash Jazz Master, torched the surface.  This really enhances the grain.  Like you can hear echos of your self it becomes so friggin deep.  I then used Zinsser sanding sealer, the wax free shellac, to try to make the wood less likely to suck up the grainfill.  I am using the Stew Mac grainfill, urethane is what it says on the can, smells like it as well.  5 layers of the stuff and still a lot of grain, a lot of grain to fill.  The trick is that you can't sand to aggressively or the toasted finish sands a way.  Real easy to do.  So on to CA to see if I can't hurry this process up a bit.

For CB's sake, I have a sanding block, and use it religiously.  More news of this later.
Patrick

 

[Keyser Soze]

If you are concerned about sanding off the torched surface you might also consider a couple more coats of sealant prior to grain filling.

I've used CA on pistol grips made from woods like desert ironwood, mesquite, and thuya burl.  It is an excellent grain filler and, when rubbed back with steel wool then buffed out to satin, makes a pretty decent finish in its own right.  I wouldn't recommend it as a finish for a typical guitar body, where the woods tend to be softer, but it is still a great filler.

Next time I use ash I plan to try a slow set epoxy.

 

[NonsenseTele]

Glad you posted here... I'm thinking in fill the Ancient Kauri body with Epoxy or CA and use just it as finish :laughing7:

 

[-CB-]

I though I'd stickie in here, it'd probably be a good idea to keep a bottle of superglue remover around (duh), but only use it in dire straits, as little as possible if you glue yourself together - you do not want that solvent soaking into your skin and bloodstream. Just let the glue dry and it will peel off, as the man says. Same goes for epoxy remover - it's OK to use these to clean off your tables, tools, etc. but that's when you really need the rubber gloves. These solvents are bad stuff.

Glue = happy mellow nature-loving ccasion14:

glue remover = GOLGOTH THE DESTROYER

regular acetone dissolves super glue, and while not good for ya, isn't exactly the worst stuff for you, considering the most you'll unglue is yer finger tips

 

[-CB-]

For CB's sake, I have a sanding block, and use it religiously.  .
Patrick

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw a sanding block up at the front end of the church....

 

[USC-Blues]

Gotta jump in....Swamp / Northern hard just sucks the filler up. As some know my "work in progress strat" has taken me more time than...well lets just say alot of damn time. Now I'm thinking CA because the fromt half : heavy trans tint honey amber (almost amberish orange brown) looks great. :icon_thumright: The problem is on  the back half of the build... Black trans tint w/ cherry transtint that shows well....like black! every danm piece of grain that did not get covered and recovered by oil based filler and the zinser spray shellac out of my devillbis gun show like...well grain. At this point i'm ready to sand back...CA the grain and shellac seal the CA followed by the Trans black/cherry so that I may actually clear this thing before I loose my mind :icon_scratch: Keep y'all posted.

 

[-CB-]

you really dont need to "seal" CA, its self sealing and ok with anything over it - nitro, epoxy, etc

 

[USC-Blues]

Very good news CB...thank you :icon_thumright: