After giving up on the wet-sanding-danish-oil-fill-pores-with-sawdust approach, I decided to try filling the pores with shellac. The process involved many coats of shellac. After every 3-4 coats, I would cut back the finish on the surface (leaving it in the pores), and then more coats of shellac, followed by more leveling of the surface. I think I put at least 12-15 coats on. Fortunately, you can apply many coats of shellac in a few hours. Flexner recommends leveling with sandpaper, but that seemed slow, so I put a slight hook on a card scraper and used that. It is definitely faster. But leveling quicker means there is a higher risk of cutting through to the wood, which I did on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, I eventually did get the majority of the pores filled on my test piece. If you look in the reflection of the lamp over my workbench, you can see there are only a few pores left unfilled in that area. I managed to get large areas that are now completely smooth. After wet-sanding through 2500 grit and then some rubbing compound, I have nearly achieved a mirror finish :banana:
And the QS figure really jumps out at you!
It doesn't have quite the same impression of depth as a dark wood such as walnut. I'm not even sure I'll want that level of gloss on my coffee table. Taking the gloss back down to a satin sheen should be pretty easy at this point. One thing I do know - is that I want that nice smooth surface for this project. Finishing has always been a weak spot for me, so I'm pretty excited about this result. I'm going to try to perfect this sample piece and then attack the table tops.
BIG CAVEAT: AFAIK, this approach will only work on shellac and lacquer. These finishes, regardless of how many coats are applied, bond to form a single layer. With most other finishes I'm aware of (poly, varnish) each coat is a distinct and separate layer - so cutting back the finish will likely cut through the top layer into the next, leaving little rings and waves in the finish. Unless, I suppose, you could put on one really thick coat? Anyways, you've been warned and my conscience is clear now :>
And the QS figure really jumps out at you!
It doesn't have quite the same impression of depth as a dark wood such as walnut. I'm not even sure I'll want that level of gloss on my coffee table. Taking the gloss back down to a satin sheen should be pretty easy at this point. One thing I do know - is that I want that nice smooth surface for this project. Finishing has always been a weak spot for me, so I'm pretty excited about this result. I'm going to try to perfect this sample piece and then attack the table tops.
BIG CAVEAT: AFAIK, this approach will only work on shellac and lacquer. These finishes, regardless of how many coats are applied, bond to form a single layer. With most other finishes I'm aware of (poly, varnish) each coat is a distinct and separate layer - so cutting back the finish will likely cut through the top layer into the next, leaving little rings and waves in the finish. Unless, I suppose, you could put on one really thick coat? Anyways, you've been warned and my conscience is clear now :>
