Wood Sealer

[Shogun]

Hey everybody, I have a couple of questions. Even though I have been scrolling a long time, I am amazed, since I joined this forum, at how much I don't know. Any way...I note that many of you out there sand down to a 400 or finer grit...why is that?...I stop at 220 because it seems to leave the wood baby butt smooth. Having said that, I work with a lot of cherry because I love the way it looks when finished naturally. I prefer to use a spray polly as a protectant. The problem I have is that most times the wood either soakes it up like a sponge, or it seems to seperate leaving little voids...this requires me to sand a lot in between coats and apply a lot of coats. A couple of years ago I was using a wood sealer, but all I could find was oil based so it did little better than bare wood, so I stopped buying it. I would love to hear any suggestions you have. Thanks.

[Keefie]

I use celulose sanding sealer mixed 50/50 with celulose thinners when woodturning, I imagine it will have the same effect for your scroll work and seal the wood prior to putting on a finish.

[dgman]

I sand to 220 grit on soft and hard woods, and 320 grit on Baltic birch plywood. I see no reason to go any higher. I don't use poly so I can't help you with that. I use a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits to bring out the color and grain of the wood. This also seals the wood. The next day I topcoat with Deft semi gloss lacquer. The lacquer dries fast, so the project can be finished in a matter of an hour.
I sand between coats with a piece of brown paper bag. This is like sanding with 4000 grit sand paper. I like the way my projects turn out with this method!

[Rapid Roger]

I use shellac for a sealer. I just slap on a coat of 50/50 Zinsser Bulls Eye shellac and and alcohol mix. It dries in about ten minutes  and do a quick sanding job with 220 grit sand paper to knock off the raised grain. (actually alcohol doesn't raise the grain as bad as water) Then go for a finish of polyurethane either brushed or sprayed on. I've used both oil based and water based poly with good results for both. For me personally one coat of poly just isn't enough so I sand with 400 grit paper between coats and finish with the brown paper sack one last time.

Rog