Finishing strategy for walnut picture frames

[jdbrown1998]

Ok, so I would like any feedback or suggestions from people out there on my finishing strategy.

I have three walnut picture frames that I made form 1 3/4" stock. I was going to start by filling a few imperfections in the miters with a 5 min epoxy/sawdust slurry. After that dries sand the whole thing with 120/180/220 sand paper.

I was going to then fill the pores on the wood using a 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 BLO, 1/3 Poly homemade mixture, wet sand it and let it dry. Then sand smooth with 320 grit sandpaper.

After that I was going to do 2 coats of gloss GF - arm-r-seal sand with 320 in between each. Finish with a coat of semi-gloss. Wait a two weeks and then hit it lightly with 0000 steel wool.

Am I doing overkill? Is it just right? Also, any feedback on the strat to fill the imperfections and how it is going to look after being finished would be greatly appreciated!

-JD

[TheOneHandedHandyMan]

I'm pretty new to finishing but all I used was a couple coats of wipe on poly and I was happy. I think filling the pores is a good idea. There is another thread in this forum where Rob goes into detail about how he did it. He used a dedicated pore filler.

[PMR]

I did four coats of arm-r-seal with a light sanding in between. You can see them in my gallery on this site, they turned out fine, filling the pores was not needed...Pat

[rodger.]

I didn't use grain filler on my last walnut project either. I used 5 coats of oil based wipe-on poly, sanding @ 320 to 400 between coats (just enough to remove dust nibs). Make sure you clean the work really well before adding another coat of poly.

Also, it is a good idea to clean the project with a clean, wet rag before applying you first coat (this is called "grain raising"). Let it dry, and then lightly sand before applying your first coat.