doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com sanding sealer

Back when my kids were kids, we build the little pinewood derby model cars. We used a sanding sealer to fill the pores and seal the wood.

Is this something to consider for gun stock refinishing. There seems to be a mystic in how to easily & properly fill/seal a stock.

Charlie

Is that the stuff that is hard on checking tools? I think silica is a major component. I have been using shelac ( button lac and Garnet) as a filler and coloring agent with good results.

Bill

Traditional sanding sealers were made with nitrocellulose lacquer, silica, sometimes diatomaceous earth and talc. New/current formulas have changed considerably, so one needs to read the can carefully. In So Cal, you can no longer buy sanding sealer for brushing because of air quality regs, and I have not yet figured out how to doctor the spray formulas to get good brushing characteristics. Current formulas have probably reduced or eliminated the silica content because silica is carcinogenic when airborn. That's why we in So Cal don't have much to choose from in flat paint finishes, because silica is the traditional flatting agent in paints. Good NOS sanding sealer is going for big money in the local secondary market.

I am going to look around and see if I still have some of that stuff. Will be interesting to see what's in it. Was around 1985 or so.

1985 was still the good stuff.

You might look into Minwax's stuff. I've used it, but not on gunstocks. It might be OK if you are using the slurry method to fill the pores.

http://www.minwax.com/products/wood_preparation/sanding_sealer.html

I had good luck with the Birchwood Casey Sealer Filler on my 1956 Ithaca Model 37. This picture before sanding the last sealer coat.

I'll always go for the slurry method - use something like Permalyn Finish and when the coat is dry then wet-sand it with the grain in sections about 2x3 in., using the Permalyn Sealer as a lubricant. When a slurry of walnut dust and lubricant begins to form then rub it briskly into the grain/pores of the wood and allow to dry while moving on to the next section. When the whole stock is done and completely dry, wet-sand again, this time wiping off the slurry as soon as it sands smooth. Let dry again and apply the next coat of Finish, repeating the whole process. Usually 3 or 4 cycles will completely fill all the grain of even open-pored wood, and the filler is always a perfect match to the wood because it IS the wood.