[Ron Ramirez]

OK folks,

I now have a quart of CrystaLac, a quart of Behlens brown water-based grain filler, and an 8 oz. jar of Timber Mate walnut wood filler.

I decided to try the Timber Mate as it was advertised as a grain filler, and the price seemed reasonable ($7.39). On the side of the jar, it states that Timber Mate is a wood putty, grain filler, sanding sealer and crack filler. I'll try it out later.

But now, I have a progress report for you on the 19B front panel.

As I stated previously, I used CrystaLac on the 19B front panel. It goes on bluish-white, but dries clear. I tried using an old credit card to scrape off the excess. It required sanding to remove all of the residue. Still left a fair amount of grain showing.

I found on the second coat that scraping with a razor blade worked better than sanding. Still, there was some grain showing.

I gave it a third coat. I had read about wiping the excess off with a cloth, so I tried that. Still left some grain lines.

So on the fourth application of the stuff, this time I just glopped it on, let it harden, then scraped off the excess with a razor blade again. This worked well and I now have a very smooth 19B front panel that looks very good. Even though the CrystaLac is clear, the grain lines are still dark as they should be. I'll see how smooth the panel is tomorrow when I spray some Mohawk Perfect Brown Ultra Classic on it.

This is all well and good...but how am I going to handle the curved portions of the top/sides with a razor blade? I'm thinking about trying the Behlens or Timber Mate on the top/sides of the 19B while using more CrystaLac on the (flat) front arch and front side sections of the 19B cabinet.

I'm sure my inability to properly squeegee the excess off or wipe the excess off is largely due to using a product for the first time and not really knowing what I am doing.

I really, really wish there was a clear and easy to understand tutorial for using this stuff available somewhere...like a "CrystaLac for Dummies" or "Water-Based Grain Filling for Dummies."

But then again, I never felt I did a really good job with the Constantines oil-based grain filler last year, until I got to my Philco 53C which was one of the last cabinets I refinished in 2011. That one turned out very smooth...very nice...especially considering the cabinet was a wreck when I started working on it.