Sanding sealer isn't really meant to fill the grain, it's there to stop finishes sinking into the wood. By its nature it may help fill small pores, but you're better off with a dedicated grain filler if the surface is fairly uneven, as ash can certainly be. Of course some sealers also have fillers in them as well so are dual purpose.
Plus, as Bakersdozen says, grain filler can be used to highlight the grain.
From the Feast & Watson product page:
"Ensure that super smooth finish to your timber with Feast Watson Sanding Sealer.
Preparation is the key to all successful projects, and preparing your timber surface for coating and staining is no different.
Our timber floor sealer is a clear, fast drying timber seal that dries to fill the timber grain, providing you with a beautiful, smooth canvas for your timber coating."
Whilst it does say "floor sealer" in the blurb, it's the same product as mentioned and linked in the earlier post.
Making the world a better place; one guitar at a time...
There are all sorts of products sold as sanding sealer, so that one sounds like it also has a filler content, which means it may not be as transparent as some other sealers.
Description
Feast Watson SANDING SEALER levels rough surfaces to create flawless, mirror finish coatings.
SANDING SEALER is a clear and quickly dries to a hard film which fills open grain and marked timbers.
SANDING SEALER can be dry sanded to create a super smooth finish with no grain pattern.
Top-coat SANDING SEALER with Feast Watson CLEAR VARNISH
Colour
Dries to colourless clear, although it appears milky in the can.
Application Guide
Surface Preparation
New Timber
Sand timber and remove all sanding dust before coating.
Previously Coated Timber
Previously coated surfaces need to be sanded to bare timber.
Remove all sanding dust before coating.
Application Procedure And Equipment
Apply SANDING SEALER using a brush, roller or spray gun.
If applying by spray, add 20% of mineral turpentine to thin product.
Allow to dry before sanding off all surface material with medium grade sand paper.
Apply 1-2 coats of SANDING SEALER depending on grain depth. Two or more coats may be required when applying by spray.
Thoroughly remove all dust from the surface prior to applying finish coats.
STAINING
Apply Feast Watson PROOFTINT stain after the final SANDING SEALER coat has been sanded, and prior to the application of top coats.
Cliff
Sounds like a miracle product!
Does it actually work as well as the text implies? Can't get F & W over here in the UK - at least not at sensible prices.
But the term 'sanding sealer' seems to cover a wide range of products, some of which fill and some which don't.
Fwiw I have actually used it.
Intended to seal the 'engineered rosewood' on the fingerboard.
Tends to retain that 'milky grey' hue despite drying.
I haven't attempted to stain over it.
Only used it on the end of the board past the last fret.
Was tempted to remove all the frets again and give it several coats.
I may try that on another 'cast off' neck in the parts bin.
cheers ,Mark.
Though to be fair, any finish can look cloudy until it's polished or had a clear coat over it that's polished. If it still looks cloudy when it's got a shiny coat over the top, then it's definitely cloudy.
If it's still milky looking, I don't think you've sanded enough of it off or you've used too much in a single application. You pretty much should sand all of it off leaving barely any there.Originally Posted by king casey
Thanks for the tips chaps.
In that case I'll just keep slathering the stuff on and then wait until it dries...
cheers, Mark.
edit: Looks like I've sneezed.
Apply SANDING SEALER using a brush, roller or spray gun.
If applying by spray, add 20% of mineral turpentine to thin product.
Apply 1-2 coats of SANDING SEALER depending on grain depth.
Two or more coats may be required when applying by spray.
Allow to dry before sanding off all surface material with medium grade sand paper.
Cliff
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