Grain fill a flamed maple?

[Milty]

Morning all,
Just wondering if you guys grain/pore fill a flamed maple top?
TIA
Milty

[gavinturner]

Hey Milty.

Generally no. Maple has very small pores and generally needs no filling. Timbermate will tend to hide the flame, and sanding sealer etc will stop stain getting in there. Usually a flattened finish is enough to even everything out.

cheers,
Gav.

[Simon Barden]

What Gavin said. Maple has closed pores (so not really pores at all then) unlike some woods like mahogany which have large open pores and do need filling. The only areas that may need some filler are round the edges by the binding if there are any small bits of end-grain that have caught on something then come away and left small holes.

Beware of glue marks on the veneer, especially along the centre join and round the edges. Use metho or turps (not water) to wipe on the veneer and see if there are any light areas of glue that aren't absorbing the fluid. If so, you can try sanding them down and using a wire brush on the area to try and loosen the glue. If that doesn't work, you can try Goof Off adhesive remover. There are very few stains that will work on glue, so it needs to be removed right at the start.

[dave.king1]

If you use Goo Off wake the rag you use has no colour in it or you will be prestaining

[gavinturner]

Yep, highly recommend goo-off if you detect glue on the veneer. Rub it in and rub it back off with a clean rag. As Dave said, colourless rags are best! Personally I dont sand the veneer at all any more. Just a light going over with 400 to take off any raised grain after applying a small amount of water to raise it. Too much water and you risk unbinding the veneer glue and causing bubbles.

cheers,
Gav.

[Milty]

thanks Simon