Sanding Sealer

Philip Miller

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2
Location
N. Texas
Fairly new to some aspects of woodworking and have a LOT to learn in the finishing area. I've heard the term sanding sealer and then saw it on the store shelf the other day. What is it? What do you use it for? When do you use it and when do you not use it? Someone please educate me. Thanks.
 
Sanding sealer is a dewaxed shellac. It has several uses including sealing wood befor staining to help control splocthing. Also used to keep grain from reaising up and used to seal wood befor top coat is put on to keep the wood from soaking up so much finish.
 
Hi,

I am definitely NOT a finish guy. However, from experience, be sure you get de-waxed shellac if you are going to put any other finish over it. DAMHIKT (That is an abbreviation you will see all too often of FWW ((Family Wood Working)). Don't Ask Me How I Know That.

Enjoy,

JimB

SealCoat by Zinsser is the one Glenn, my youngest son, and I use. Glenn does some fabulous work. I just plug along.
 
I will mix Balins stain with my sanding sealer and lacquer thinner. The color is much richer then sealing and then staining.

If you seal 1st and then spray a cherry over the sealer you will get more of a red tone that the brown of the cherry.
If you mix the cherry in the sealer you will get the true cherry color tone.

But when mixing stains with sealer You will need to coat the colored sealer with at least 3 coats of sealer before you can sand.
I will usually use a 3M sanding pad to wipe each coat as it dries so not to pull the stain coat off.
 
ok dave your a refinisher as well.. so what is your sealer actually in real life, its not shellac right its something in a form of lacquer.. and vaughn that was some interesting reading..
 
Okay, lets try a third definition.
Clear dewaxed shellac (1 pound cut when I do it) works as a sealer, but is only one of the choices
Lacquer with stearates works as a sealer, but I haven't used that since I went to water-based finishes.

Basically it is any transparent material that fills some of the wood pores (i.e. sealer), providing a very smooth surface with good adhesion for building the following coats of finish. To be sure it is flat, it generally is a soft finish that is easy to sand very smooth. My water based lacquer can be thinned a few percent and is a good sealer, but it doesn't "pop" the color of walnut and some other woods as well as other sealers like shellac. My favorite is a custom sealer product from my finish vendor - covers well, sands easily, and brings out the color as well as any other sealer I have used - but it is neither shellac nor lacquer.
 
Okay, lets try a third definition.
Clear dewaxed shellac (1 pound cut when I do it) works as a sealer, but is only one of the choices
Lacquer with stearates works as a sealer, but I haven't used that since I went to water-based finishes.

Basically it is any transparent material that fills some of the wood pores (i.e. sealer), providing a very smooth surface with good adhesion for building the following coats of finish. To be sure it is flat, it generally is a soft finish that is easy to sand very smooth. My water based lacquer can be thinned a few percent and is a good sealer, but it doesn't "pop" the color of walnut and some other woods as well as other sealers like shellac. My favorite is a custom sealer product from my finish vendor - covers well, sands easily, and brings out the color as well as any other sealer I have used - but it is neither shellac nor lacquer.

so charlie what are you using as a sealer to pop the figure or color of the wood prior to your final finish?
 
Well I will ask a question out of not knowing better? Would you ever want to use a sealer under a painted finish?

If you're trying for a smooth, flat, "grand piano" painted finish, the sealer will help fill the pores and likely be easier to sand flat than the paint itself.
 
so charlie what are you using as a sealer to pop the figure or color of the wood prior to your final finish?

The Target Coatings EM1000 is my primary sealer, and pops the color quite well - as well as any other sealer I have used. I still use 1 pound cut dewaxed shellac when the wood may have been contaminated, and I need a barrier between history and my new water-based finishes.
 
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