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I'm really having trouble pore filling Koa.
I egg filled and all seemed fine till I put some shellac and olive oil on it.
Lots of empty pores.
I'm worried now that I have oil in those pores and refilling won't adhere.
Can I just refill with egg or ca?
Or do I need to sand it all off?

Thanks,
Peter

Shellac and olive oil? I assume then you are French polishing. Making this assumtion that you are French polishing you should have had a wash or spit coat of only 1# cut of shellac on the the body before any oil ever touched the body

Back the issue at hand! Koa is a fairly porous wood seldom will one session fill the pores. Egg whites will shrink back some. Odds are an egg white fill on Koa will take 2-3 sessions. I also assumed you squeegee the egg whites in as apposed to just brushing on as they will bridge the pores and not fill them.

Since you did not say so, and because others might not know. If you are not French polishing but rather only applying a padded on seal coat there is no need for olive oil. In fact unless you incorporate a spirit-off process to remove the oil from the surface It just sets there and could cause issue with a top coat You probably know this but I mentioned just incase someone that did not know may have miss under stood.

Thanks for responding Michael.

this is what I've done
squegeed 2 coats egg white
sanded level
applied shellac not thinned
leveled with the oil
spirited off.
My concern now is if there is oil in the pores will egg or ca even adhere.
or should I just sand it all off?
Peter

So I assume you used the oil as a lubercat for level sanding. Do I have this right? When you say applied shellac do you men a sel coat or as a fully completted finish . If as a seal coat just a very light sanding with 400p to knock down edges or a good firm spirit-off with alcohol would have be fine for a seal coat, no need to level at that stage. How was the shellac applied? padded, French polished sprayed or brushed. the odds are if we are talking a seal coat and not a full finish then a good naptha wipe down followed by a stiffing will remove any oil that may be present. If we are talking a complete shellac finish the same will apply.

I have to say that I have never heard of using Olive oil as a wet sanding lubercant before. I have been french polishing for some 35+ years and have used olive oil as a boding lube during the French polish process most of those years. but never as a level sanding lubercant.

For future projects let me reccommend either a few drops of dish water soap in a pint of RO water for wet sanding (the soap is all the lubercant needed) or a table spoon of K1 kerocene in a pint of RO water.

When you use a french polish method of appling shellac you only use a eye drop or two of oil each muneca load up. the oil stays on the surface of shellac and is removed with each proceeding spirit-off session.

I have to say that you process of using olive oil to level is not othadox in my knowlage base and is not at all intuitive to me. i may be misunderstanding how you used it duiring leveling.

I guess I have not explained the oil process I used very well.I don't have the terminology right.
I am french polishing,I pad the shellac onto the wood till the shellac starts to get sticky.
then a drop of oil is applied to the pad.
then I rub in circular motion to level the shellac
then I spirit off in line with the grain.
I guess what you call bodying and I call levelling are one in the same? thanks for correcting me on that.
I didn't use oil as a sanding lubricant.
I'll try wiping it down with naptha.
Thanks again
Peter

OK them I know where we stand now Here is you best bet to fill the un filled pores. Go to the Online Resources at the top of the page. find the milburn tutorial and follow the pumice fill process. it is never to late to pumice fill no mater how much shellac is on the body. you will need to do some more boding after the fill is complete (2 maybe 3 body sessions) then glaze as shown.

Do this method and ther is no need to remove the finish you have on. If you are set on egg whites I would remove the finish to bare wood ad start over. I am afraid the egg whites will discolor over the shellac. Adhesion would not likely be a problem but I would be concerned with color issues.

Thank you very kindly Michael

Peter,

When applying egg white to fill the grain I have only ever seen it worked into the wood surface with abrasive paper. Doing so forms a slurry of egg and wood dust which prevents bridging and colours the fill to match the wood perfectly.

Here is some info on the process which was posted by Allen McFarlen over at the ANZLF.

http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?t=742

Cheers

Kim

Thanks Kim
That looks as though it works really well,I know the squegee method didn't work very good for me.

Your welcome Peter,

Just one further note. Egg white should be considered a water based filler. Just like any other water based product, you will need to allow the work to dry out very well 'before' leveling if you are to avoid sink back. It is not good enough that the work piece 'feels' dry, you need to be patient and certain that the piece is completely dried out and that the moisture has not simply wicked into the wood surrounding the pores and is yet to contract again.

I know a lot of people have written about their issues with other water based fillers but I suspect that most of these problems can be traced back to the users impatience to move on and get the job done. This is understandable give the fact that by the time your applying filler, you are so close to the finish line and anticipation can thicken the air and your skull. But if you are to do your work justice, you need to be just as patient and respectful of due process at the filling stage as when carving braces or bending sides, it all takes time.

Cheers

Kim