When to drop fill?

[MKlee]

Here are a couple of pictures. I still have the question about why a pore will fill and not a scratch. The scratch doesn't appear to be any deeper than the remaining pores. Can you tell from the picture if I still have too many open pores? I've got 4 coats of pore-o-pac but I'd rather do more and get it right, rather than not have a great finish.

[tippie53]

no filler on a top . Are you sure that isn't a sink ? The back appears to be long pore .

[MKlee]

John,

I'm not sure what you're asking - I'll post a higher resolution picture of the scratch. What do you mean by a sink?

[MKlee]

I didn't fill the top - my question though, was why will the lacquer fill the remaining pores but not fill the mark on the top? I'm not understanding the difference.

[Tony_in_NYC]

John,

I'm not sure what you're asking - I'll post a higher resolution picture of the scratch. What do you mean by a sink?

A sink. The item in your kitchen or bathroom where you wash your hands. Sheesh! What john means is an area where the lacquer has sunken into the wood, either a pore, or in the case of the spruce, into the fibers of the wood. It could be a sink or a long, shallow dent. Its your call as to how to fix it. You can simply add more lacquer and hope it does not show, or sand down the area and blend it in with the surrounding wood.

OK, seriously, when filling the pores with lacquer, you will apply a lot of lacquer which will sink into and fill the pores, then you will spend a lot of time and energy sanding off all of that lacquer to get down to a thinner finish. Or, you could apply several coats, sand back to bare wood after a decent cure time, then add more lacquer. If the pores are not filled, you will add more lacquer, cure, sand, and repeat until the pores are filled. Then proceed with building your finish. It will definitely work, no question, and it has been done before. The difference between the pores and your dent thingy is size. The pores are small, even the long ones are still narrow, so they do not show as dents under finish. The dent type thingy you have may very well disappear when you put on some more finish. Or it will look bad.
Its always tough to photograph those things so you are the only one seeing the size and depth of the dent. Thus, only you can decide how to go about fixing it. Good luck. She is looking good so far!

[MKlee]

Thanks for the clarification Tony, and honestly, that's why I started the thread - to see if I could drop fill the spot. If it were a sink, would drop filling work better than if it's a scratch?

It seems to be the consensus (as much as possible) that drop filling probably won't work and that I need to sand it down. Guess I'll start sanding tomorrow unless I hear something else here.

Thanks again -

[tippie53]

i think this may be a sink and yes , that can be drop filled .

[MKlee]

Can't hurt to try can it. If it doesn't work I can always sand everything back off, right?

Since I'm using rattle cans, can I just spray some into a glass bowl, let it thicken up a little and drop on with a small paintbrush? How long should I wait between coats?

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I have just sprayed some of the lacquer into the plastic cap, (make sure it is clean) and then use either a small tipped water color paint brush, or a tooth pick to pick up some of the lacquer and "drop" it into the area. Don't be tempted to try and spread it out, or around. Just let it sit there until it is totally dry. Then if you need more, because it will shrink, put another drop down. Do this until your build up is higher than your surface. Then you can scrape it or sand it down level.
I agree, it looks like you can fill it.

Kevin

[MKlee]

Tried the drop fill process yesterday and it worked like a charm. Thanks, everybody for the input.

I was able to actually hit several spots. let it dry, and then lightly scrape off the excess. When I hit the spot with scotch brite I could not even tell it had been there. I think drop filling could get addictive as it seems to be a great solution to any of the imperfections on the surface.

Still waiting on the weather in Atlanta to start spraying lacquer - looks like it could be a while.