Some things that I've learned about finishing. Some of them I also use. #2: Home made wood fillers, Pumice and Rottenstone.

Thanks Karson! I learned something new today. Now can I go to the house for supper? LOL!

-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"

Rog: Glad to contribute to your base of knowledge. And, also allow you to go eat.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

isn’t that interesting!!!
“across the grain”.. makes sense!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

My wife wants to know when you took Jeff Jewitt’s class; she took a class with Jeff on finishing @ Marc Adams School and uses this technique on mahogany with much success. You have been generous with your knowledge. Thanks.

I took this class

Hand Applied Finishes
By Jeff Jewitt 6/22/2002

At Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

The host of the class was Steve Latta who was the administrator of the woodworking program at the university. Steve is quite well known for his Federal Period woodworking, and writes a lot of articles in woodworking magazines.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Thanks, Karson.

I’ve been using pumice and rottenstone for years and never saw this as an option.

You can teach an old dog new tricks!

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

I prefer the pumice application because it doesn’t affect the original look of the wood grain. Of course, I am sure there are times that the rottenstone effect of the grain would be desireable. Karson, you are doing a wonderful job of sharing this information. I never knew about using either of these for a wood filler. I usually use wood glue and sawdust to patch and avoid wood fillers because of the fact that it is almost impossible to match the wood to the filler.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Sweet technique! I especially like the way rottenstone brings out the grain in oak. This would be really interesting after fuming white oak in the Mission style. Hmm…something to play with.

-- Robert from Raymond, MS. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not a practice, but a habit." - Aristotle

Hey Karson….....SWEET…......Danish Oil and the Pumice…...super tip…...never knew that…....THANKS!!!!

Neil

I just tried a similar method, from an article in FWW (I think I’ll have to look). The method in the article had you sprinkle the pumice on the wood then rub in with a rag soaked in boiled linseed oil. While working on it I decided it would be much easier to mix the two first and apply with a putty knife – which is of course exactly what you showed here. I do like the look of the piece so far. I’ve got a second piece (foot stool) to do and I think I’ll try your method. Results will be posted later.

Incidentally the article also suggested plaster of paris as an alternative wood filler which would, of course, lighten the grain. It was suggested mostly as a quicker alternative.

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com

Cheller: I’ve done something similar to what you suggested but it was done while veneering. In that case you used Shellac and sprinkled the pumice on the French Polishing pad and you rubbed the surface. It then placed a combination of wood dust and pumice into the pores of the veneer along with the shellac. It is used as a surface filler as you do the French Polish.

The boards that I pictured above were placed outside today in the sun. The oak board with just the BLO started to weep a little oil to the surface as the board heated up. The Pumice Oak board had a couple of spots and the Rottenstone version had none. That might also be a case where the Pumice and Rottenstone soaked up any excess BLO. Or, it’s a case where the slurry was thick and not as much BLO soaked into the surface anyway.

The walnut boards had no oozing at all on any of the boards.

The pores on the two boards that had the filler are completely full while the BLO versions still have open pores.

I was (and may still today) make my own Danish Oil and try the pumice and rottonstone again on the oak. I got lots of pieces like the ones shown. They were from the toy club and I was going to make 800 wheels with the boards. I can still use them for that because I only put the hole saw part of the way through and then use a resaw to free them up.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I took a look last night and the article I mentioned was by Jeff Jewitt from FWW May/June 2005.

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com

Yes same instructor, for the class I took. Jeff also has some books on finishing. Here is his website

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Interesting. I just finished watching the Wood Whisperer who did some grain filling as well. He showed two approached . . . one using oil and the other using a commercial grain filler.

-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them