chess board with wenge

[vig129]

I built a chess board with curly maple and wenge,I am having problems with the grain.I am trying to get a high gloss finish, I sprayed 10 coats of lacquer and the grain still has indents. should i have used a grain filler and would it show up a different color in the grain.

Thanks

vig129

[AceHoleInOne]

Not sure about wenge, is it grainy? Is the film building on the non curly part of the maple ok?

Are you block sanding between coats?

Using a spray can of solvent lacquer?

-Ace-

[vig129]

It is grainy. The lacquer is building up and the grain is starting to fill in but I'm already at 10 coats . I am spraying from an air gun and I am not sanding between coats.my first time using wenge.

vig129

[AceHoleInOne]

The lacquer is building up on the high spots, so growing taller after each coat. Block sand with some 600 and work down the high spots. Go easy and don't sand through to the wood. The goal is to let the finish catch up to the higher spots. Building up from the low areas (grain pockets) The finish is actually building along the rim of the grain pockets, that's why we mid coat sand.

You should be fine.

[vig129]

Thanks I will give it a try and let you know how I make out.

vig129

[thewoodwhisperer]

Hey vig. Wenge has particularly deep pores/grain. Filling it with finish is very slow and quite wasteful, as you already may have guessed. So it might be too late as you are already well into your current process, but for next time you should definitely consider using a pore filler. With wenge, you either want to use a clear pore filler to let the dark color come through, or use a dark brown/black tinted filler. Once you do that, finishing should go smoothly and you shouldn't need more than 4-5 coats to get a decent gloss build.

[vig129]

Thanks I will try that next time . I have to make a bunch more for family and friends.