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This question is about prepping for French Polish. I think I'm missing something in my sanding technique. After alternating coats of shellac and pore filler and then sanding I can still see the squeegee marks on the surface where I removed the excess filler. Am I right to think I'm not sanding down far enough?

I don't want to sand down too far that I need to start the filling process all over again, so I think I'm holding back. Should I be sanding down to bare wood through the filler/shellac layers, but not so far as to sand through the filler in the pores? How do you know when to stop?

Tips on sanding pore filler appreciated.

I should clarify my original post. I could not see the squeegee marks after sanding and looking at it from different angles under a work lamp. But, after I put on a coat of shellac the showed up. I assume the marks will be visible no matter how much shellac I build up.

I like to have the surface look pretty good before I FP. It is a thin finish so it is hard to even out irregularities on the surface. I am not sure what your pore filler looks like. But I always sand back and refill until the surface is level, that is there are know shinny areas after sanding and I do not have to sand through of high spots.

One nice thing about FP you can put some body coats on and if you are not happy you can sand it again and just start the FP boding coats again. You can even pore fill more if you find open pores at nearly any time in the FP process.

So you have a couple valid choices you can FP some more to see if they go away or sand it back now. I would do a couple of boding sessions to see how it looks. The streaks might be part of the FP.

I'm sure that the marks are from the filler they just weren't visible enough. I have one body session and it shined up with enough depth for me to be pretty sure the steaks are from filler I didn't remove. So, I think I'll sand back again, this time going a little more making sure the marks are gone. I think I'll sand enough to make the surface pretty dull as you suggest. I just don't think I took it down far enough. Thanks, you gave me some more insight into this process.

I'm curious why you are "alternating coats of shellac and pore filler"?

How many coats of pore filler did you use? Did you sand back between coats? What kind of wood are you working with?

Darryl,

African mahogany back and sides. I was alternating wash coats of 1# cut shellac and Stew Mac water based pore filler. This method is recommended on the LMI website.

I really think the problem was that I wasn't sanding back far enough. Now that I have, the pores seem to have filled much better. I'm taking my time on putting the building coats on every other day to all each session to cure. It's looking pretty good. It will need some leveling but I only have two body coats on so far.
jrc