Finishing Question on Grain Filler

[tubeman87]

I'm working on a jazzmaster project and I'm about to start primering and painting the body. I know I have to lay down a few coats of sand and sealer before the primer but I read on Reranch that I need to fill the wood grain. The body I'm working on is an Alder body from warmoth, the more and more I read about grain filler the more and more impression I get its mainly for when you sanded and strip a body that was previously painted. The Alder body that came from Warmoth is sanded very smoothly and it might not need the grain filler. Is that true, or should I go ahead and apply some oil based filler before the sand and sealer.......thanks

[Lake Placid Blues]

Grain filler shoudn't be needed with alder. It's virtually mandatory with ash, and a good idea with mahogany, but alder should be okay without it. Just a good sand and sealer should do. Put on two sand and sealers, and sand it with 220, so that it's still shiney in spots. Put on one or two more and sand it with 220 so that it's dull everywhere.

I like to take it down to 500 or 600 grit before the color coats or the white primer if your doing an opaque color.

A good primary sealer (below the S&S) is shellac. Bullseye is a good. This fills up the pores at the surface and prevents the wood from absorbing so much sand and sealer or other under coats.

[MikeRocker]

+1 to what LPB said, you don't need to grain fill alder. Which is good for you, grain filling is a royal pain!

[Kiobe]

what is the end finish going to be, clear over stain or an opaque paint color. are you using a lacquer sealer?
first, no matter what alder doesn't need a filler. second DO NOT sand with a grit beyond 320. you want the undercoat of every layer to attach itself either chemicaly, right after the flash point, or by tooth, the tiny groves left by the sandpaper. if you use a grit beyond 320 the chances of the finish poping off increase with every higher grit used. i have been applying lacquer finishes for almost 40 years and i've seen it happen to a lot of people that think that using a very high grit paper will give them a better finish, but that's just not how it's done. here's how i finish.
3 coats nitrocelulose sanding sealer over raw wood or the stained raw wood applied one after the next waiting for the flash point. let dry 8 hours. sand with 320 wet dry using paint thinner, that's PAINT thinner or mineral spirits as a lubricant. take care not to go to deep cause you will cut into the stain layer. then 3 coats one after the next after the flash point of nitrocelulose clear or pigmented color. sand w/ 320 and paint thinner to cut it until there are no more shinny spots, all flatted. then depending on the viscosity of the clear or pigmented color coat anywhere from another 3 to 8 coats. then sand w/ consecutivly higher and higher grits till you hit 2000. rub and polish. one other thing, if you are going to paint it an opaque color, not translucent, you can put a coat or two of lacquer surfacer on the bare wood. lacquer surfacer has less surface tension than sealer and will fall into the tiny pores found in the wood. just spray it thinned out well, like the consistancy of milk. it's not hard, just take your time. good luck.

[Lake Placid Blues]

I've never has any problems with peeling, but I agree that 320 is fine enough.

Don't sand a metalic color coat if your doing a metalic. Get to the clear coats right away in that case.

[tubeman87]

Thanks for the help guys I'll post pics of the process through out, I'm going for ametallic Lake Placid Blue, I'm going to match the headstock as well. Here's a pic of what I'm shooting for. Again Thanks for the help.

[Kiobe]

to be sure you can get some outragous metalflake finishes using 2 stage automotive paints w/ the clear as the depth coat. and hard as a rock too.

[tubeman87]

^Cool bro, Thanks