Reply by CharlesNeil

Arm r seal is a urethane based oil and one of my favorites, polyeurthane simply means its a blend of 2 or more resins, most dont like “poly” ( meaning 2) because it has a plastic look, this is simply due to sheen, a gloss or semi goss can have a plastic look to it, try a satin, as to your question, aquacoat is a waterbased grain filler and an excellent one I might add, however anything water base does not add the warmth a solvent based product will, but Arm r Seal will add the warmth, the issue is because of the grain filler being in the grain, the oil will not be able to get there, , a simple solution would be to give the raw wood a light coat of shellac, then do your grain fill, that way the shellac will add the warmth your speaking of to the wood, then when its grain filled , as aqua coat dries clear it will show thru. Now once you sand the piece the sheallac will be removed from the surface, then when the Arm R seal is applied it will add it back, this way the deeper filled grain and the surface will both have the look you want A quick, note, the warming effect that oil and solvent based product give us, is more a reaction from the chemicals in the products with the wood than them actually adding color, you can use clear lacquer and it will do the same thing, Water base is pretty much non reactive with the wood, so it doesnt have the desired reaction, but a quick coat of shellac will take care of that .