Who uses SANDING SEALER and why

[Arron]

I have noticed that on this forum and others that I've looked at there are big differences of opinion on using sanding sealer. I use it to :
1. provide a crisp surface for final sanding. ie making all the tiny furry bits of wood stand on end.
2. cut down on the number of finish coats needed.

Now I'm wondering whether either of these is really true. I was thinking that 1 coat of SS is equivalent to maybe 2 or 3 coats of WOP, but I really dont have any evidence of that. So I'd like to hear from people here - who uses it and why (or why not)?

cheers
Arron

[Dengue]

Good question, Arron, am looking forward to the replies.
I use water on the sanded surface, then sand off the fibres that are left upright by this process, for a smooth finish, esp when using water based paints

[wisno]

The sanding sealer is the clear coat that is designed to be easily sanded. It is very similar with the top coat but with sanding agent inside.
The sanding sealer is applied especially to prepare the smooth surfaces before the top coat application.
Ye it is, the sanding sealer at the first application will raised and stiffen the wood fibres. If the wood fibers are sanded they will be cut off and the smooth surface finish will be obtained.

EDIT: Link removed by moderator due to tracking software attached to link.

Thanks

good luck

[Scott]

Don't click on the link provided by Wisno, it'll take you to a site nothing to do with sanding sealer and potentially a site with malicious code.

[China]

Sanding sealer or grain filler is designed to fill the grain of a timber to give a more uniform and less porous surface prior to application of a finishing media.

[Dengue]

China, do you then apply stain over it OK?

[chrisb691]

There is also the sanding sealer that our host produces. It's a thin liqued that raises the wood nap(?), so that it can be easily sanded.

[Arron]

Chinas response reminds me of another purpose of sanding sealer.
It seems that most of the store-bought sanding sealers are designed with at least three purposes in mind.
1. provide a good bed for sanding
2. filling grain
3. sealing timber

To my way of thinking, a sanding sealer shouldnt try to double as a grain filler - but thats what they do. No surprise then that theyre often unsatisfactory. I particularly dislike the kind of grain filling that they do - because the filler is a greyish colour it tends to dull the finished job, loosing the impact of the grain.

So who uses them, or not, and why ?

cheers
Arron

[BobL]

There is also the sanding sealer that our host produces. It's a thin liqued that raises the wood nap(?), so that it can be easily sanded.

That's what I use and have found it excellent. It does not fill the grain and dries much quicker than water. My limited experience with water is while it does raises the nap nicely the subsequent coat of finish still seems to raise a bit more because water doesn't hold it in place like a sealer seems to.

[munruben]

I don't usually use a sanding sealer, just water to raise the fibres and then sand. I probably use more finishing coats this way though.

[RufflyRustic]

I use sanding sealer. It's now an absolute essential part of my finishing process. Most of my finishes are either UBeaut's Shellac or Wipe on Poly. I also build a lot of boxes and furniture in pine and getting a good finish on pine is so much easier for me when I use sanding sealer.

I tend to make my own from the best metho I can find and UBeaut's white shellac. I have the biggest moccona coffee jar and make up a big batch of it. I use it like there's no tomorrow.

I use it to help in sanding especially on timber that can be very fibrous/fluffy eg pine, meranti, some maple and it is essential as the base coat when I am going to dye the pine. I even use it as a base coat under a wop finish, as the wop seems to go on better after that.

I don't use it as a filler, for that I prefer timbermate puttys.

cheers
Wendy

[Bernt]

In my opinion the use of sanding sealer is mainly beneficial in large production/industry. There are for as I experience no advantages of using sealer instead of topcoat (maybe slightly extra thinned) than a little bit easier to sand, dries a bit quicker and is a little cheaper. If you are not finishing the one piece after the other and have a gun specially set up for it, the time and money saved on using the sanding sealer is lost in cleaning the gun and changing to topcoat. Obviously for large quantities there is time and money to be saved.
I do use it sometimes when I do a whole kitchen at ones or something else big.

[bellyup]

I use the U-Beaut sanding sealer when ever I turn dry Redgum - I reckon it helps the final 2 coats of U-beaut Shellac "sit" better. I get great results. I used to use Shellawax etc but nothing beats the sanding sealer and shellac combo on dry timbers like our redgum.
Bruce.

[Rattrap]

Another use for sanding sealers is to slow the penetration of later coats of finishes. End grain is a classic example. To stop end grain from going darker than the rest of the timber a coat of sanding sealer can be applied. I've also read that its good to stop wood from blotching when a finish is applied.

[AlexS]

I use shellac as a sanding sealer. It raises the fibres and hardens them so they can be lightly sanded off, giving a much nicer feel. Usually use an oil finish.

[kcam]

On furniture (dark timber) I use shellac as a sanding sealer then fine sand, on boxes and turnings I rub in and polish Feast Watson sanding sealer then U- Beaut EEE followed by Canubra wax or on some small items spray lacquer over the polished sealer makes for a very easy lasting finish.

[powderpost]

To get a smooth glass like finish, open grained timbers need to have the pores filled before applying a top coat, irrespective of what the top coat is. In days past, the filler was made from turpentine, talc and a colouring agent to match the colour of the timber being filled, not suited for multi coloured projects. A "clear" grain filler (sanding sealer) is used for projects with more than one colour wood. Colouring of the wood is done before the application of the sanding sealer. Sealing the wood first will prevent uniform colouring. I use a sanding sealer often as it does dry clear.

Not all timbers need a sanding sealer. Pine and Queensland maple, (and many others) don't need a grain filler. Northern silky oak and red cedar (as well as many other open grained woods) may need two or more coats to get a gloss finish.

Usually a high gloss finish will need a filler but for an oil or wax finish, no filler is necessary.

Hope this makes sense and helps.

Jim

[China]

Jill to answer your question have a read above powderpost, pretty much covers it all