# Wood Filling Pores Padauk



## KevBotWorkshop (May 13, 2017)

I've been reading up on filling wood pores. I did a project recently that I used some Padauk on and during the finishing process I went to use some paste wax on it and some of the wax got in the pores. As some of you know Padauk has some very noticeable pores/grooves and you can definitely see the paste wax as I couldn't get in there and rub it around.

In my research I saw that some people use wood fillers like Timber Mate to fill pores and grain to make a smooth surface. These fillers are colored for specific woods like Walnut, Oak, etc. My Question is has anyone used something like this on Padauk? I looked and they didn't have a set color Padauk and so i wanted something that would work well. I thought maybe black or ebony would work as it will go with the darker grain.

Would love to hear some input.

Thanks


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

What I do for pore filling is to flood the surface with a heavy coat of natural Danish oil and then wet sand so that the pores fill with a combination of the oil and sawdust. It works well on any species I've used and color is guaranteed to be consistent. I just make sure to give extra time for the Danish oil to cure before doing anything else.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

I've used three products that I can recommend without hesitation. The first two are water based and the third is solvent based.

Aqua Coat is a gel-like clear product that you apply with a bondo spreader, pressing it into the pores and then scrape off the excess. It sands nicely, and after going over it with 220 grit, if you still want a more pore free surface, do one or two more applications. It does not affect the color of the wood in any way.

General Finishes Enduro water based sanding sealer is easy to use, and it too will not affect the color of the wood. It brushes on and sands easily. You can either do a brush and sand and repeat process, or brush on two or three coats, allowing it to dry in between, and do a final sanding.

Finally, Mohawk offers a aerosol spray lacquer based product called Heavy Body Sanding Sealer. It's easy to use, and does give the wood that deeper look like regular lacquer. Sanding is optional, depending on the look you're going for, and it dries almost dead flat. Since it is lacquer based, if you're doing lacquer topcoats, they lay down very nicely.


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## Gilley23 (May 9, 2017)

With the Danish Oil, are there any top coats to avoid that won't adhere properly over top of the Danish Oil?



> What I do for pore filling is to flood the surface with a heavy coat of natural Danish oil and then wet sand so that the pores fill with a combination of the oil and sawdust. It works well on any species I ve used and color is guaranteed to be consistent. I just make sure to give extra time for the Danish oil to cure before doing anything else.
> 
> - JayT


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

If you start with Danish oil I would stick with it. Makes everything simpler. Some are thinned varnish, some are thinned varnish with oil added. But you could top coat with varnish or shellac.


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

I use Watco Danish Oil and for some projects use it as the only finish. On others that need to withstand more abuse I have top coated with polyurethane. As long as you let the oil cure, then there is no problem. A couple projects were done with a shellac seal coat between the Danish Oil and poly, while others were not. There haven't been issues either way.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

You can put any topcoat you want over Danish oil once it's cured. Shellac is always a good safety net to prevent colors from bleeding.


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