Advise me on grain filling

Hi
I'm just starting on a new project for a P90 loaded Tele with a mahogany and maple body which is going to have a translucent cherry red finish. This is my third tele project but the first that hasn't had an opaque paint coat so I'm entering uncharted territory.

Basically the body consists of a slab of mahogany about 1 1/2 thick with a half inch maple cap. The maple is quite light in colour without much figuring. I've grain filled the mahogany back after masking off the maple cap with Jecofil mahogany coloured grain filler (a UK product). It's come out really well for a first attempt but now I'm wondering if I should treat the maple cap as well. Obviously it won't pick up much filler being very close grained but I'm wondering if it will just warm the maple up a little instead of it looking so anaemic. The attached pics are of the body before any grain filling so you can get an idea of the maple

C'mon guys, someone must know about grain filling surely? :lol:

I've never grain filled maple, nor heard of anyone else doing it either. I just hit it with a nitro sanding sealer and then clear lacquer coats. Do you have any scraps of the maple left over? If so, why not test out the grain filler and let us know how it goes? If you want to "warm it up" then maybe a transtint or aniline dye followed by sanding back would be a better option? Not one to be tackled until you're happy with the results of testing on scrap pieces though.

BTW: You might get a better response asking over in http://www.tdpri.com/forum/finely-finished/

If it's figured maple and you grain fill, you'll lose alot of the figuring that made you like the piece in the first place.

CA glue (or maybe epoxy) would be the only "grain fill" I would do on maple. The traditional grain fill need does not exist for maple. The pores are tiny.

Hi

Maple doesn't need grain filling but to get the grain to pop there is a technique where you stain with a dark stain and then sand the top back to leave just the dark stained flames in the maple. Then you stain again with a lighter color and then finish. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSrQHmnmmE . There are a number of how to videos on this technique if you search a bit. Good luck and post pictures.

I would use grain filler on the mahogany only. Mahogany is an open grain wood and filling the grain makes the surface more consistent for staining. I have done this on magohany cabinetry I build.

As to the maple, the hitting with dark stain and removing it by sanding is what most finishers do to pop the grain in the curly maple.

A good source of finishing wood is Charles Neil's website.
http://www.cn-woodworking.com/
He is a finsher and cabinetmaker by trade and has lots of good information on webiste and in his BLOG. A good series of finishing DVd's can be purchased from him. I was able to use his guidance when I finished a kitchen cabinetry project, very helpful.

Look forward to seing the completed guitar

Regards
Harold

That top looks pretty figured to me... I think it'll pop! No filler.
Is that a strip of wenge?
Looks like it's gonna be a killer fiddle!

Maybe warm it up a bit, and do what little filling the maple 'needs' with Tru-Oil?