What do you use under your Minwax

[Arron]

Hi folks. On previous advice, I bought some Minwax and am starting to experiment with it to get the best finish possible. I'm now wondering what sealers (if any) people use under it.

I've done some experiments putting Minwax over bare timber, shellac, one coat of F&W sanding sealer, and 3 coats of F&W sanding sealer. I'm not seeing a lot of difference so far, except that the grain filling effect is evident with the 3 coats of ss, and the orange tint with the shellac is noticeable.

so what do people use, and why ?

cheers
Arron

[RufflyRustic]

sanding sealer, if the tinber needs it. otherwise nothing :)

[AlexS]

Just a coat of thin shellac as a sanding sealer, then a few coats of Minwax wipe-on poly until it's built up enough.

[spokeshave]

I normally rub in some grain filler (usually Timber-mate or Cabot's Wood-tone putty thinned with a bit of water) then sand back with 400 or 600 paper. I then apply the Wipe-on straight on top. With this approach i usually need up to 4 to 6 coats of the wipe-on to get a smooth result.

Never really had much luck with sanding sealer. Maybe i just wasn't using it properly.

This a pic of a jewelery box i made (from another thread of mine) using the above approach.

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/nitro50th/jewellery%20box/P1010818rev1.jpg

Steven.