Talcum powder as grain filler with shellac

[Lyle]

Could I ask for help ang guidance in using talcum powder as a grain filler.
Do I add it to a shellac and sand back,then repeat as required?
I am wanting to seal/fill some silky oak.
Or isthere a better commercial product.
I want to have the finish as "clear as water" as possible.
Any advice or guidance appreciated.
Thanks in advance

[Claw Hama]

The benevilant dictator has this in his very good book.
He sugests to use it in the early stages, a teaspoon to 100ml of shellac.
If you want to get into some nice finishes or just want a great reference book,
purchase one from him. Great to keep on the shelf.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

[Chief Tiff]

A Polishers Handbook

[Cliff Rogers]

Read thess pages.
U-Beaut Polishes - WHITE SHELLAC
TALCUM POWDER

[Lyle]

Thank you for your replies.
Despite multiple "hints" prior to Chrissie,I only got a lump of coal,not the polishers guide...��
Looks like I'll have to get it myself. Maybe my birthday pressie to me.. ����
Does the guide go into "when things go wrong and troubleshooting ".

[auscab]

I don't want to show any dis respect for the forums products .
But can any one tell me how and why Talcum powder as a grain filler has worked for them in some time saving obviously well working way .
How was it applied and how fast did it speed up the process of filling a lot of tiny holes to firmly bring it up to the level of the final top finish ?

Traditionally Pumice was used .
There's a big difference between Pumice and Talc . Talk is soft and slippery . Pumice is rough and solid . One gives way to pressure more than the other .
Ive tested Talc in the grain compared to lots of Pumice embedded within shellac and with Silica , Ground sand, embedded within shellac . The Talk was crap . With pressure applied from a screw driver forced across the surface it caused de lamination . The other two worked well .
Has any one seen remarkable results from grain filling with Talk ? With Pumice and Silica the result was huge . Testing on a good test subject . Open grain US White Oak .

Rob

[Lyle]

Hello Rob.
Was the pumice etal ground into as fine a powder as the talc. Did you add it to the shellac as per the same as the talc mix?
With the delamination, was that under a shellac finish or some other type?
Thanks
Lyle

[Claw Hama]

Hi Rob
I used it at school back in the 70's, worked fine then. Talc is generaly or was, powdered alum stone or some
might call it soap stone. I don't think it was as abrsive as the powdered pumice.

[auscab]

Hi Rob
I used it at school back in the 70's, worked fine then. Talc is generaly or was, powdered alum stone or some
might call it soap stone. I don't think it was as abrsive as the powdered pumice.

Hi Claw .

Worked fine by doing what and how ?
How did you know the grain was filling faster than just bodying up using shellac and a rubber doing circles and figure eights ?

[auscab]

Hello Rob.
Was the pumice etal ground into as fine a powder as the talc. Did you add it to the shellac as per the same as the talc mix?
With the delamination, was that under a shellac finish or some other type?
Thanks
Lyle

Whats etal Lyle ?

The Pumice method shown to me was using a sprinkle every now and then during bodying up . So after the first fast brush coat and before finishing off. If you went to quick you could see a build up so you backed off . The Pumice is fine but nothing as fine as Talc . This was shown to me by old Polishers in a cabinet making workshop doing antique restoration . The polishers were the sort of old guys who started the trade as boys between 1914 and later .

A guitar makers method of grain filling with Pumice I looked into a little was very different to this . Rubbing pumice on raw wood with a rubber. I never quite got it and didn't need to . The first method above worked but was slow going . It did noticeably speed things though .

Then with the guitar addiction I had going for a while taking me further from my furniture roots I read further ways . Filling the grain with two pack glue and a credit card . These guys I watched did a lot of that . Working in such a way with horrible two pack is bad enough with a knife while gluing up bits . Squeezing it all over a job sounded like madness to me . I did try it once and that was enough . I still have the table I tried it on . Could never sell it it looked so bad. I sell a lot of tables . I know how to get them saleable . I just gave up on that one . Got lazy with it . To fix it I need to re plane it all out .

I built a guitar and french polished it bodying only with shellac filling the grain . No pumice

Ive done that a thousand times like that or with pumice on Tables and furniture restoration .

The credit card method with epoxy ( two pack ) had me thinking though so I started playing with open grained Oak , credit card, and oil based sanding sealer . First I made a heavy mix of talc mixed with sanding sealer and squeezed it into the grain with the credit card . I basically filled the grain totally and when dry sanded it flat . Then gave a coat of sanding sealer and polished . The dry very quickly polished shiny Oak had no strength with that much Talc filler . Any pressure de laminated the polish from the wood . I believe the talc was the problem .

So I tried the same with Silica . Its a similar thing to Pumice . This worked .The stronger material stood up to the job . No problems . It gives fast grain filling and is good on flat stuff . No good on legs and carved things . Takes to long to apply and get off clean with a full grain .

So its worth remembering, I thought .

I don't use it much though . If its Antique repairs I'm doing I get by with shellac and pumice if I really need it . The bodying with the shellac the right way is the key to fast grain filling . You hardly need Pumice except on very open grain stuff .

And on my new tables sanding sealer put on right and cut back well then shellac fills very fast . Shellac and bodying right finishes it off if its low.

Id say what I was doing with Talc was a bit extreme to its probable intended use by most . Id still like to know if or how it can be used to give a good fast result .




Here is a thread I did on a Mahogany table resto filling with Pumice a while back . Big Job !
Mahogany Extension Table Restoration

I put most of my new stuff up on instagram .

under
robertbrownfurniture

Rob

[Lyle]

Thanks Rob. etal is a shorthand for "and all the others".
Thanks for your replies.
I normally use wipe on poly as my finish.
I am looking for a grain filler to suit the wop.
I'll try the talc in some shellac and see how I go.
Lyle

[Lappa]

Lots of commercial ones available such as Feast Watson Sanding Sealer, if you don’t want to go down the road of mixing your own.

[auscab]

Thanks Rob. etal is a shorthand for "and all the others".
Thanks for your replies.

Your asking woodworkers for advice using shorthand ? F=or Fu===== sa==ke why ?

Any one who can really help you has spent more time looking in the bottom of an empty can than knowing anything about shorthand !

[Lyle]

It isn't really shorthand but a common term used...... Oh never mind....
Thanks for all the replies.
I'll certainly try some of the suggestions.
AND I'm going to see if anyone in our group has the book. I'd like to check it out before getting it.
I might even try to get a demo day on finishing for our club.
Lyle

[Chief Tiff]

It isn't really shorthand but a common term used...... Oh never mind....

AARRGGHH!!!
Now you’ve awoken my inner CDO* spelling and grammar Nazi! It’s TWO words (albeit one is an abbreviation) and as they are in a foreign language (Latin) it usually written in italics.

My thanks to Auscab et al who have supplied some interesting new info on this topic. I have the Polishers Handbook and find it most informative. Except the jokes. They may be bon-bon factory rejects.


*CDO is like OCD, but has the letters in the correct alphabetical order. As they should be.