Finishing Walnut

[jaxenro]

I am making a handle for an old knife I had kicking around without one. After I shaped the walnut down for finish sanding large pinholes appeared all over it and the more I sand it seem new ones keep appearing. I am used to walnut being a bit open grained but this much? The holes are about the size of the tip of a ball point pen.

Is this normal or just a more open than normal piece of wood? I brushed on a few coats of egg white to fill and seal them and sanded smooth, then added a few more coats and will sand smooth tonite and start on the oil finish. Anything else I should do?

 

[Len Graves]

Sounds like those holes might be worm holes. No matter what the holes, I have had some luck with using the stain which comes with the glass bedding kit, and mixing up glass bedding stain included -rubbing a thin coat into the wood. Let set and then sand and finish as usual. the epoxy glass bedding should fill any holes, even quite large ones. If you don't have glass bedding, regular epoxy will work. I have even used cocoa powder mixed in the glue for coloring on walnut. good luck.

 

[mazo kid]

Try applying your finish and then sanding while the finish is still wet. This will most times fill the wood adequately after a couple of applications. Failing that, use some wood filler paste and rub into the grain. Try it on a scrap piece of the same wood to see what the result will be.

 

[chipper]

Try wetting it and sanding when it's dry. Repeat this a few times and then start adding varnish or what ever.

 

[tshrcav8r]

I have used flat black spary paint on walnut as suggested by others. It was scary, but it worked pretty well. Spray paint it black and sand it off, repeat if necessary, then stain and finish as usual. I used it on the walnut stock of this rifle and would I use this technique again on walnut.

Walnut stock filled with flat black spray paint

 

[paulvallandigham]

Unless you really want a dark stock-- what is the point to buying a nicely figures stock if you are going to paint it black???--- you would be better off simply using shellac to fill in the pores. Then sand down the finish to wood, and rub in a good oil finish. The shellac will fill the pores, and unless you get agressive with the sanding, it will remain when all the surface shellac is removed from the wood. Since the open grain will only get darker when its stained, any staining of it should be done before the shellac is used. After sanding, the exposed wood- the slow growth wood- will take some stain.

I don't happen to believe that many walnut stocks need any stain at all. After being exposed to UV light, the finishes all darken some anyway, unless coated with a final coat of marine(spar) varnish.Since that leaves a very shiny finish, I don't use it. The darkening is what gives the stock an aged look over the years.

 

[jaxenro]

I used a few coats of egg white (raises the grain and fills the pores) dried between coats, sanded it off and did it again. It seems to have filled the grain. Rubbed in some oil, adding new coats when the prior one was soaked in to the point the wood appeared dry to the touch and looked like no oil was on it. Now I am doing the hardener, rubbing it on each nite and will let it harden for a few days. I don't like to stain walnut either and this one is dark enough to begin with, although the "red root" oil seems to be bringing out some highlights