Pore filling advice
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Tagged: paste filler, pore filling, wet sand
- This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 2 months ago by Derek Long.
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10 December 2014 at 1:57 pm #122039
Hi,
I’ve made a butter dish out of oak as a christmas present for my father. I’m conscious that if it isn’t given a very durable finish the combination of soft food and porous wood could be a disaster, and I’ve pretty much decided the top coat(s) will be a polyurethane varnish, but I’d like to make sure the pores in the oak are well filled before it goes on.
I like the idea of wet sanding to fill pores, if anyone here has tried this could you offer any advice on how to go about it? I have BLO, shellac, varnish, danish oil, and plenty of time before christmas. I would rather not spend money on a paste-type filler and bugger around with matching colours.
Advice gratefully received.
Thanks, Matt.
10 December 2014 at 2:45 pm #122040hi Matt would you still need to use a grain filler if you went over the surface with a cabinate scraper or a card scraper ,it seems to me that we dont see Paul use a grain filler as such, apart from a thin coat of shellac.
10 December 2014 at 3:02 pm #122048Hello Eddy,
The surface has been scraped and sanded, just need to fill the large open pores you get in the oak so they don’t get filled with butter. Normally I prefer a more natural look and would just leave the pores as they come, were it not for the practical considerations.
Matt
10 December 2014 at 5:32 pm #122058Have you considered using bee’s wax, preferably melted in, or linseed oil (organic) filled with bee’s wax? The wax will fill and can be buffed out to a reasonable gloss or polished out like one does to spit shine a boot. It’s easy to re-new and safe. I can’t get too excited about using poly for food surfaces but maybe that’s just me. I’ve used wet sanding/filling techniques before but on walnut not oak, and with generally with linseed oil. It’s a different ball game.
Just a thought.
Cheers
11 December 2014 at 11:29 am #122078@sidreilley, thanks for your suggestions. I’m not dead keen on wax because I know oak tends to get dirty quicker than other woods, and considering the thing’s going to get a lot of handling I really want to seal it off.
If I could fill with wax then coat something over it that would be better, is that possible?
11 December 2014 at 5:04 pm #122093@dave, no I hadn’t, I’m aware through this site of it being used for large imperfections but not pore filling.
It sounds like it’s worth a go, I think I’ll try to find some food-safe epoxy and test it on some scrap. If you’ve tried it yourself do you have any pointers?
11 December 2014 at 5:56 pm #122094Have you considered finding a glass or stainless steel dish inside the wooden part or parts? Whereas I might think that epoxy would indeed seal the whole surface skin-like, I would still be concerned about the longterm immersing or exposure of epoxy to untested substances because there are no guarantees that the surface is indeed perfectly sealed. I think the main problem here is not the exposure to wood but surfaces that might no be sealed or unflawed. Food trapped might well be harbouring bacteria.
Mathew, well epoxy is basically liquid plastic, problem with it is it’s fairly viscous when applying and getting it done evenly in a dish shape would be time consuming because you’d have to apply it in such a way to prevent it from simply running down and accumulating in the bottom of the bowl. Think very thin coats and build it up.
Keeping butter or any food for that matter on a wood surface for long periods is just asking for trouble (sanitary wise) regardless of the type of finish in my opinion. This is not the same as a cutting board where contact is minimum (food prep) and the board wiped and allowed to dry.
Paul’s suggestion of gouging out a recess to receive a more appropriate stainless, glass or enamelled dish of some sort is good advice, especially for things like sauces, gravy bowls etc. I can think of numerous gift ideas as a result of this discussion now 🙂
11 December 2014 at 11:24 pm #122099From the sound of it I might have to do a mix of Mr Sellers’ and Dave’s suggestions, as it’s a bit late to recess any other surface into the dish.
I suppose I ought to have posted a photo right at the start, I’ve attached two below.
There’s probably only 1/4in of wood in the base of the dish section, so any tiles or stainless sheet would have to sit on the surface rather than in it. I’d still have to seal the inside of the lid and the remaining wood on the surface of the dish.
You can see though that it’s not as steep as a bowl, so I don’t think there’d be trouble with the epoxy.
Thank you everyone for your help, I will be sure to post he results.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.28 January 2015 at 11:40 pm #124048I forgot to take a photo before giving it as a present, but as promised here’s the finished product in its new home.
In the end I used what I had to hand, shellac to mostly fill the pores and then three coats of polyurethane varnish on top. It took about 10 coats of shellac, sanding each coat almost right back with the intention of getting the dust into the pores: not the most efficient method but effective in the end, and entirely food safe.
Thank you all for your advice. If I were to do something similar again I’d start with a non-wood surface for the butter, as suggested by @paul-sellers, and make the rest around it. A different wood would also be more suitable, one without oak’s enormous pores.
Matt
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.30 January 2015 at 1:46 pm #124106The project must have been a real “headache” for you, since I see you needed some ibuprofen in the second picture. 🙂
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