Grain filling a swamp ash body with maple top and neck

geetarguy85

Hi all,

I’m planning on doing the grain filling on my PRS style build this week. It’s got a swamp ash body with a flame maple top and neck, and I was wondering whether I need to mask those off? Or given that maple isn’t very open grained, would grain filler simply sit on top of the maple so I can wipe or sand it off?

Thanks!

SteveRobinson

I wouldn't bother masking. You want to remove all the filler from the surface anyway before it dries. 

Pack the filler into the pores using an old credit card in the direction of the grain and scrape off across the grain. It's best to use a rough cloth such as Hessian to remove the excess filler. 

geetarguy85

Thanks Steve.

SteveRobinson

You really needed to remove more from the surface before it dried, it'll be a right job to sand that off now

geetarguy85

Unfortunately I thought I had scraped off more than I had  first time doing this so at least I'll learn for next time!

geetarguy85

I’ve noticed a few spots where the pores aren’t filled so unfortunately I’ll need to give it another coat of filler. Should I sand back the first coat then apply the next, or can I apply the second coat without completely sanding the first?

SteveRobinson

I would sand back completely before applying more filler. That way you'll be better able to see what is and isn't filled. 

Also you won't be able to scrape properly where there is filler on the surface.

This time use a piece of hessian to clean the surface thoroughly. It's better to have to repeat the application than sand filler off.

geetarguy85

Thanks for the advice Steve.

geetarguy85

So I've done two applications of filler now, but it looks like either I didn't use enough, didn't press it into the pores deep enough, or I sanded too far, as there are quite a lot of pores still open. I guess a third application is on the cards