sanding sealers.. all the same?

[Wrightme43]

So you'll start with Timbermate, and then seal that with shellac? Any problems with enamel (e.g. Rustoleum) over the shellac?

No sir, dewaxed shellac is the universal basecoat. It is what makes Kilz brand primer work.

My house is used. The people that lived here before somehow got oil or grease all over the walls in the kitchen and dining room.
I sprayed the walls in those areas with kilz primer, when I ran out of kilz, I used dewaxed shellac. They both worked.

Zinser sanding sealer is just 2 pound cut dewaxed shellac.
Zinser shellac is 4 pound cut normal shellac.
Shellac is made from the secretions of the Lac bug. It is used in candy, food, and wood finishing.

Check out youtube on Shellac and a process called French Polish. It is a giant rabbit hole. Very cool stuff.

Below is a French Polish Shellac Finish I made for my wife.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Shellac is made from the secretions of the Lac bug. It is used in candy, food, and wood finishing.

we are eating bug juice?

 

[Cape Byron]

Below is a French Polish Shellac Finish I made for my wife.

Does she polish up well?

 

[SolarYellow]

Below is a French Polish Shellac Finish I made for my wife.

Am I the only one who's thinking stained and bright-finished bass fins on some future rocket?

 

[cls]

we are eating bug juice?

I bet you had plenty at summer camp. High C, Kool Aid? Today, Skittles, M&Ms? Lotsa stuff has cochineal, carmine, natural color.

Guarantee you've eaten bug parts in plenty of meals. Legs, antennas. Small number is allowed by USDA rules, because it's impossible to completely eliminate.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I bet you had plenty at summer camp. High C, Kool Aid? Today, Skittles, M&Ms? Lotsa stuff has cochineal, carmine, natural color.

Guarantee you've eaten bug parts in plenty of meals. Legs, antennas. Small number is allowed by USDA rules, because it's impossible to completely eliminate.

I worked in Commercial Refrigeration for 20 years, I can take anybody back in high end restaurants and show them around the areas of the kitchen, and you won't eat there anymore.

 

[cls]

I worked in Commercial Refrigeration for 20 years, I can take anybody back in high end restaurants and show them around the aes of the kitchen, and you won't eat there anymore.

Oh gawd, yes

I'm quite happy with nice clean natural colors, and chocolate crickets, thanks

 

[cwbullet]

Definitely no all the same.

 

[Wrightme43]

Am I the only one who's thinking stained and bright-finished bass fins on some future rocket?

I have two vacuum veneer press setups. One with a electric pump and one with a hand vacuum pump. I have been planning on curly maple veener on a set of fins. It dyes easy, and has https://www.thewoodworkermag.com/colour-changing-chatoyance

I have some really cool transtint dyes, even blue, red, and yellow.

I have a 4" Nike Smoke to build and have been kicking the idea around in my head.

The wood below was just wiped on, then sanded almost all the way off. It just soaks deep into the grain folding in the curly maple.

 

[Bob Yanecek]

I just snagged some Tiimbermate.
I can't wait to try it, but if it works, I've got a whole fleet of body tubes with spirals that need to be 'fixed'

 

[tlainhart]

Below is a French Polish Shellac Finish I made for my wife.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Gorgeous woodwork there.

 

[Mugs914]

Am I the only one who's thinking stained and bright-finished bass fins on some future rocket?

Did it once on an extended THOY Wasp. After sanding a rather thorough airfoil into the fins, the various colors of the wood plies just looked too good to cover up, so they got a light stain and several coats of clear, sanded and buffed.

Not the best angle, but it kind shows the result... (Ready to go on an Aerotech G-64W; it's favorite motor!)

 

[Mugs914]

In keeping with the original subject of this thread, I started with the old Aerogloss dope fillers and sealers decades ago, but they also quit making Aerogloss decades ago...

Lately I have been using thinned CWF to fill the wood grain, then using SIG sanding sealer for the final coat before primer. The dope-based sealer seems to soak into the wood and CWF, ending up with a nice hard surface.

That said, I'm always looking to try different methods and you guys are a gold mine of good tips and tricks! Now after reading all the recommendations, I can't wait to get my paws on some Timber Mate!

 

[Hobie1dog]

And I think it bears repeating that sanding sealer is merely going to help seal the grain, but it's definitely not going to fill it in at all, where actual grain filler is going to fill in all of the valleys in the wood resulting in hopefully a completely smooth finish, where sanding sealer is not going to give you a smooth finish unless you apply many coats to finally build it up, i'm not going to use sanding sealer anymore, as it just takes way too many coats to get something that builds up and gives you a smooth surface. Life is just too short to Keep applying more and more coats of sanding sealer. Then only to be disappointed that you have to add another coat, and then another coat.

 

[prfesser]

And I think it bears repeating that sanding sealer is merely going to help seal the grain, but it's definitely not going to fill it in at all, where actual grain filler is going to fill in all of the valleys in the wood resulting in hopefully a completely smooth finish, where sanding sealer is not going to give you a smooth finish unless you apply many coats to finally build it up, i'm not going to use sanding sealer anymore, as it just takes way too many coats to get something that builds up and gives you a smooth surface. Life is just too short to Keep applying more and more coats of sanding sealer. Then only to be disappointed that you have to add another coat, and then another coat.

And that's why I want to test filler materials---talc to begin with---mixed with sanding sealer. The sealer I have dried hard (good!) and sanded ok, but didn't fill (bad). Talc is solid that won't shrink on drying and should give much better fill.

I would like to be able to apply just two coats of sealer/filler, sanding between coats, to fill even the deepest crevices. Perhaps it's an unreasonable goal. Certainly nothing I've ever used, including the sanding sealer sold by Estes and Balsa Fillercoat from the hobby shop in early 70s, would do that. (One-part body putty, properly thinned, can do that sometimes.)

 

[Back_at_it]

Minwax brand sanding sealer. Been using the same quart can for about 3 years now. Still about 3/4 full. I'll never use the entire can.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I have a can of Zinsser sanding sealer that I only used twice, so it is 15/16th full and have been taking it to launches with a sticker on it half price, trying to get rid of it. It's just way too thin.

 

[prfesser]

I have a can of Zinsser sanding sealer that I only used twice, so it is 15/16th full and have been taking it to launches with a sticker on it half price, trying to get rid of it. It's just way too thin.

Most materials that are too thin can be thickened with fumed silica ("Cab-o-Sil") usually with minimal effect on other properties---except perhaps appearance. Okay if the work will be painted anyway, but don't use it for a fine-furniture finish. It takes a fair volume of Cab-O-Sil to do the job but it's incredibly low in density (a 5-qt pail weighs just half a pound) so it adds very little mass.

Fun possibly-rocket-related fact: fumed silica is so effective that it can even thicken liquid hydrogen. I suspect someone was attempting to use it in a rocket engine; might avoid some of the issues such as leakage with LH2.

 

[Back_at_it]

Minwax sanding sealer is the perfect consistency right out of the can. It's thick enough to fill the balsa, bass and plywood but still thin enough that you can use it on cardboard and it will soak right it.