# Hickery grain fill



## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

I love messing around with filling grain I thought this was a cool effect. I used lacquer with black trans tint, let sit wiped off, dried, and then scraped off. 

I've used different fillers many times; oil slurry, pigment fillers, oil fillers, made my own. Also used different ways to apply the filler. But using a scraper after applying the stain seemed to burnish the closed grain an keeping the stain in the open pores. 

Wt do u think?


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Looks cool. Looks like you torched a piece of pine.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Pretty cool! I love non traditional finishing. I came up with a latex based glaze that gets yellow cypress pretty close to sinker. I've recently been playing with alcohol based glazes too. Have you seen this? After application you light it and it burns off in a few seconds leaving a dry finish behind.

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

firemedic said:


> I've recently been playing with alcohol based glazes too. Have you seen this? After application you light it and it burns off in a few seconds leaving a dry finish behind.
> 
> ~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


No haven't messed with fire. Shoot me some pics


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

E-mail, or post here? Don't want to hijack ya thread :no:

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

I appluad both of you and any others for thier efforts on things like this. though both methods have been used in the past, along with many others, the fact that you bring them to the forefront again brings a smile to my face!!:yes:

Please show all your work so others can view and hopefully admire them as i do. :thumbsup:


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

firemedic said:


> E-mail, or post here? Don't want to hijack ya thread :no:
> 
> ~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


Hijack you terrorist lol. I don't mind


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

chemmy said:


> though both methods have been used in the past:


There are not many things that are new. But it is cool to rediscover them. An use them in new ways.


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

3fingers said:


> There are not many things that are new. But it is cool to rediscover them. An use them in new ways.


Agreed, keep up the good work.:thumbsup: and post any new work you do please.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

It was a bit scary when I lit a 4'x4' coffee table top off yesterday, lol. I got the idea for burning off finishes from watching Indonesian furniture builders at work. :smile:

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Wt does it do, just dry fast?


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

firemedic said:


> It was a bit scary when I lit a 4'x4' coffee table top off yesterday, lol. I got the idea for burning off finishes from watching Indonesian furniture builders at work. :smile:
> 
> ~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


Excellent FM, being a student of finishing history, i compliment you on your findings. Also you may want to try a technique used in the early 19th century where the then new acetelene torch was used to apply a black soot [ oxygen low acetelene high] to pine or other softwoods, then brushed with a wire brush to produce a comed affect of dark and light on the surfaces. :yes:


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

3fingers said:


> Wt does it do, just dry fast?


Pretty much. I use dry color pigments mixed with it. It does look a little bit grayer when burned though as opposed to just allowed to dry.

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

chemmy said:


> Excellent FM, being a student of finishing history, i compliment you on your findings. Also you may want to try a technique used in the early 19th century where the then new acetelene torch was used to apply a black soot [ oxygen low acetelene high] to pine or other softwoods, then brushed with a wire brush to produce a comed affect of dark and light on the surfaces. :yes:


Interesting. I think I'm going to play around a bit with adding a small amount of shellac flakes to it to try to encapsulate the pigment a bit.

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## beezabill (Jan 10, 2012)

Help help i hav done a piano lid with precat and its not the right finish can i wood grain filler it and rub down and coat it ??????


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

firemedic said:


> It was a bit scary when I lit a 4'x4' coffee table top off yesterday, lol.
> 
> 
> > That is nuts! Is that what you have to do to compete for the "Ragin' Cajun" moniker? :laughing:
> ...


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

firemedic said:


> Interesting. I think I'm going to play around a bit with adding a small amount of shellac flakes to it to try to encapsulate the pigment a bit.
> 
> ~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


Adding resins will cause the alcohol / resin mix to burn much longer, just so you know.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

:smile:

Chemmy, 

I'm not concerned with burn time, burning is just the means to the end quicker. I'd prefer if it left just enough film to keep the colors from pulling when brushed over.

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

3fingers... I absolutely love the look of filling the grain with a color like trans tint. Curious what steps you would take to do something like this on something like oak, if you had to try to stay along the lines of using water-based products because the lack of ventilation. Trying to figure it out here until I can build a down draft booth vented outside this spring.


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

firemedic said:


> :smile:
> 
> Chemmy,
> 
> ...


Your missing the point, it will become a gummy sticky mess at first and when hardened very brittle and possibly darker. unless your just talking a couple flakes per qt? do yourself a favor and try it on glass first and see what takes place ok?:yes:


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

chemmy said:


> Your missing the point, it will become a gummy sticky mess at first and when hardened very brittle and possibly darker. unless your just talking a couple flakes per qt? do yourself a favor and try it on glass first and see what takes place ok?:yes:


I don't believe I'm missing the point, I think your confused as to what I'm doing. This isn't a top coat.

~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

firemedic said:


> I don't believe I'm missing the point, I think your confused as to what I'm doing. This isn't a top coat.
> 
> ~tom. ...GEAUX TIGERS!... ...GEAUX SAINTS!......


ok:thumbsup:


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Woodress said:


> 3fingers... I absolutely love the look of filling the grain with a color like trans tint. Curious what steps you would take to do something like this on something like oak, if you had to try to stay along the lines of using water-based products because the lack of ventilation. Trying to figure it out here until I can build a down draft booth vented outside this spring.


If you use water based...I raise the grain first with distilled water. The irons in tap water will cause black marks in the oak (from the tannins in oak I believe). If you don't have distilled water just boil the tap water. Wipe the water all over the raw wood, this will raise the grain. Then sand with 220. You can use trans tint mixed with water to make a stain. or they make a water based grain filler that you can color with trans tint. then do the steps I outlined above...any questions just ask. Oh do a few test samples on some scrap to you know what color and effect your going for


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

3fingers... Yes I remember reading about raising the grain with water. Isn't that the technique that you are filling the pores with moisture so when you add stain the pores are already full so they won't soak up as much? It's like get wet final sand for those small twang pieces to come off, wet again then stain? When mixing trans tint... which for some reason I've been eyeballing... with water would that coat the wood evenly, if so is it that the wood is already wet why. I looked before I dropped you that note and after I must be blind since I don't see your steps. But no worries.... 
I Totally Thank you!


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Water raises the grain (wood feels fuzzy) if you apply a water based stain w/o raising the grain it's harder to make the color uniform cus the stain need to be sanded to get rid of the fuzzy grain. You avoid this by first raising the grain. 

The way I did the finish above was just added trans tint to lacquer Let dry an then used a scraper to have the open pores keep the color an then added top coats of lacquer


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

tky... did you spray the lacquer?


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Woodress said:


> When mixing trans tint... which for some reason I've been eyeballing... with water would that coat the wood evenly, if so is it that the wood is already wet why.
> I Totally Thank you!


I just eyeball the mix as well But when matching a finish I measure out the trans tint an keep track of how much I add an wt colors. 

Just mess around that part of the fun. 










Here's lace wood with gold filler










White oak with the same technique 










Lacewood with silver fill


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

:thumbsup:OK those are gorgeous:blink: After seeing those I'm.....Recalculating :laughing:. Already called my local lumber and they carry lacewood or they call it leopardwood. But I think for what I'm doing I'll like using an exotic wood better than oak.
TKY


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Leapordwood is different then lacewood I did the lacewood to match a customers granite kitchen 

If you use Leapordwood send some pics of samples


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

3fingers said:


> Leapordwood is different then lacewood I did the lacewood to match a customers granite kitchen
> 
> If you use Leapordwood send some pics of samples


Ok, I'm so glad you posted that. When I called my local lumber yard the kid that answered the phone gave me all the signs of not being confident in what he was saying. So I was wondering when he said that. Totally makes since... so I searched it and saw pics. They are quite similar both beautiful. I'm just going to go there myself and see what it is. Not even bothering with calling again! lol So it'll be like my B-day, without the suit...lol, when I do find out what kind it is. But for sure I'm going exotic wood. In the search process I found a FIND of a WebSite!!! A non-commercial site I couldn't do it justice so I'm posting the first para. under "General Discussion of this site" 
The point of this site is to show, with accurate color and detail, pictures of every species of exotic and domestic wood I can get my hands on, and occasionally to also show items made from such woods. I particularly choose to show bowls because these shown multiple view of grain direction with just one image. If you're looking for tool tips or woodworking tips or chat rooms on wood or woodworking, this is not the place. All you'll find here is pictures and descriptions of wood, and these will be as accurate as I can make them.
He does sell beautiful woodworking, but not there... just info. http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/ 
Thought it was cool enough to share


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

Woodress said:


> In the search process I found a FIND of a WebSite!!! A non-commercial site I couldn't do it justice so I'm posting the first para. under "General Discussion of this site"
> The point of this site is to show, with accurate color and detail, pictures of every species of exotic and domestic wood I can get my hands on, and occasionally to also show items made from such woods. I particularly choose to show bowls because these shown multiple view of grain direction with just one image. If you're looking for tool tips or woodworking tips or chat rooms on wood or woodworking, this is not the place. All you'll find here is pictures and descriptions of wood, and these will be as accurate as I can make them.
> He does sell beautiful woodworking, but not there... just info. http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/
> Thought it was cool enough to share


Woodress, I think you found the site of our own phinds. He is a frequent contributor of this forum. :thumbsup:


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

Ok, so not like I'm expecting to get an answer, I know I'm in the wrong Sub-forum, but I thought I'd try asking here since we're on the subject of lacewood. When planing I'm finding it has a tendency to tear out. I'm wondering if it's one of those that benefit of of shallow passes with extra slow feed speed?


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Woodress said:


> Ok, so not like I'm expecting to get an answer, I know I'm in the wrong Sub-forum, but I thought I'd try asking here since we're on the subject of lacewood. When planing I'm finding it has a tendency to tear out. I'm wondering if it's one of those that benefit of of shallow passes with extra slow feed speed?


If your doing smaller work, better to band saw it close to the line and sand it from there. Thus avoiding any tare out.


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

oh I wish I could, but it's set up and cuts metal on a daily basis. I'm going to have to use the planer... Thinking of using a Half pitch while adjusting for a tight mouth.... what's your 2c?
TKY


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Woodress said:


> oh I wish I could, but it's set up and cuts metal on a daily basis. I'm going to have to use the planer... Thinking of using a Half pitch while adjusting for a tight mouth.... what's your 2c?
> TKY


My .2 is to add 4.98 more to it and go enjoy a cup of coffee. lol

Not a pro woodworker woodress, but i've built lots of jigs and fixtures, etc., for finishing, and lots of samples in exotic woods, all shapes and sizes.


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

Lots of samples in exotic woods???? I hope you know by saying that you'll be hearing alot of ?'s from me right?:laughing: I'm going to find a way to work with it... too beautiful to not to!
I hope I'm not coming off like a woodpro  more like a woodrat... Wanted to be a beach bum when I grew up but.... we moved to a forest...what's a gal suppose to do.

But seriously prices for the exotic woods are up there so I'll be researching alot before to keep the cost of sampling down.


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

Shop Dad.... oh that would be too cool:notworthy: I appreciated totally seeing all them here then in my dreams.... I'm hooked now no going back:laughing:


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## 3fingers (Dec 7, 2011)

Woodress said:


> Ok, so not like I'm expecting to get an answer, I know I'm in the wrong Sub-forum, but I thought I'd try asking here since we're on the subject of lacewood. When planing I'm finding it has a tendency to tear out. I'm wondering if it's one of those that benefit of of shallow passes with extra slow feed speed?


Wet the Lacewood down with paint thinner first this will avoid tear out in the Lacewood and do very light passes over the lacewood


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Woodress said:


> Lots of samples in exotic woods???? I hope you know by saying that you'll be hearing alot of ?'s from me right?:laughing: I'm going to find a way to work with it... too beautiful to not to!
> I hope I'm not coming off like a woodpro  more like a woodrat... Wanted to be a beach bum when I grew up but.... we moved to a forest...what's a gal suppose to do.
> 
> But seriously prices for the exotic woods are up there so I'll be researching alot before to keep the cost of sampling down.


you may want to look at certainlywood.com or http://www.oregonwildwood.com/ or world lumber in california as some other suggestions. http://www.woodfinder.com/marketplace.php is also a list of many good exotic places to purchase from also, thought i would include this to just was looking at it a few days ago, if you do look, you will also se other offerings from them and other companies, this first one is called wild white ebony with some stunning figure. 

http://youtu.be/292QD2YPWQY


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## Woodress (Jan 10, 2012)

:thumbsup:Thank you for the links. Have you, or anyone else ever worked with wormwood??? I found a family member has a ton of wood left over from building a house. Wormwood being one. Only downfall is it's an hour away, and in full tree lengths and cuts, but totally seasoned. Other than that talk about yummy!


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## chemmy (Dec 13, 2011)

Woodress said:


> :thumbsup:Thank you for the links. Have you, or anyone else ever worked with wormwood??? I found a family member has a ton of wood left over from building a house. Wormwood being one. Only downfall is it's an hour away, and in full tree lengths and cuts, but totally seasoned. Other than that talk about yummy!


actually i have not seen cabinets out of wormwood or furniture. If it's being used, i would think it not a popular choice for such, but it may work for smaller items.


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