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I am ready to grainfill my Basswood body. Elmer's carpenter's Wood filler was used on some gouges made by the router and fill a few small holes. The packaging claims it resists shrinking and is paintable, that's why I choose it.

As I was sanding it seemed to fill in alot of deep scratches, ect. Seems to me that by thinning it out a little with water, it could make a good grain filler before it seal it. (recommend a sealer too) Actually, I dont even know if Basswood needs grain filling or not.

Is this a bad Idea or a Brilliant one. Someone let me know, I need to get paintin ASAP the temperature is dropping pretty rapidly and this needs to be done already.

Thanks everyone.

After a day of research I've found my answer.


My thanks to Bob S. and This YouTube guy.

Very informative, I do have one question about the finish.
After he sanded the board, it appeared that there were large areas of a blondish color, which I assume was the dried grain filler. That will be acceptable, for a finish you are going to add a color topcoat to. My question will this same method work if you are going to leave a toned or natural finish. I wouldn't want the blond color showing through in large patches.
I'm currently refinishing a Yamaha FG-140, that I purchased about 2 weeks ago. It had been clear coated and looked like crap. So I stripped it down to bare wood. I have a lot of open grain, I was planning on using a regular grain fill I have but this method seems much quicker. Will It work on the guitar in the attached photos ?

Dan

panther wrote:Very informative, I do have one question about the finish.

I'm currently refinishing a Yamaha FG-140, that I purchased about 2 weeks ago. It had been clear coated and looked like crap. So I stripped it down to bare wood. I have a lot of open grain, I was planning on using a regular grain fill I have but this method seems much quicker. Will It work on the guitar in the attached photos ?

Dan

I don't know enough about the process to give a definitive answer. Sorry Dan.

I just picked up some of this filler yesterday to try out on some piano legs that I am working on. They have some shallow grooves caused by an idiot stripping shop that used a wire wheel on soft wood. I tried a little out of the box and it's too thick and will require a lot of sanding. Going to try diluting some with water next. I like the fact that it can be stained. We'll see how that works out.

If the guy in the video uses the filler for his finishing it would probably work OK on your acoustic. Maybe some woodworking sites would have alternatives.

Rick B.

rcblair wrote:Going to try diluting some with water next. I like the fact that it can be stained. We'll see how that works out.

If the guy in the video uses the filler for his finishing it would probably work OK on your acoustic. Maybe some woodworking sites would have alternatives.

Rick B.

There most certainly are products specifically made for grain filling, but I always look for the cheapest thing that works and I already have on hand. Plus, I dont feel like waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I have even seen a guy use use diluted drywall compound as grain filler. I am interested in how your project turns out.

Search z poxy
It fill the pores and Harden the surface ,cause basswood is very soft and take ding a lot
On mine i have z poxyied the body for this

ludobag wrote:Search z poxy
It fill the pores and Harden the surface ,cause basswood is very soft and take ding a lot
On mine i have z poxyied the body for this

I have seen that used before. Looks like good stuff, though a little pricey. Is it the same as regular 2 part epoxy? Urethane 2k clear is what I'm using on this build so I'm not worried about the hardness of the wood. Urethane is tough as nails!

Basswood isn't an open grained timber so grain filling isn't necessary much like Alder isn't.
Ash & Mahogany need filling because it's a very porous open grained timber.

Timbermate is the best grain filler out there really for it's ease of use and colour variety.
The one labelled "hardwood" or "natural" would be best for basswood as it's a very white coloured wood.

After he sanded the board, it appeared that there were large areas of a blondish color,

sounds like you are describing the sealer coat not the grain filler?
Grain filler will be just that small flecks IN the grain of the timber and sealer coat will be all over it everywhere else.It can be difficult to get rid of it all sometimes depending what was used to seal it.

The filler thinned with a little water fills the shallow grooves really well. I put some ebony stain on one section and the filler absorbs the stain as well as the wood so the finish is even.

I had tried some Bondo wood filler on one small section and I was surprised that the stain penetrated that as well. The Elmer's wood filler is easier to work with so that is what I'm going to use on the remaining surfaces of the piano legs.

Rick B.