>I follow the finishing procedures reliqiously that Russ recommends including the home brew, Deft/thinner 50/50, and the 2 lb shellac/oil mixture. Bob Rosand and Chris Stott use a "cellulose" sanding sealer on their videos. Question (finally) What is the difference in it than the Deft/thinner sanding sealer? Rosand uses turpentine as a thinner and I tried that with Deft and got a mess. I use Deft or shellac in the same way he uses SS prior to last cut etc. What benefit does the SS have over them if any? Thanks and sorry for being so long.
>A sanding sealer can be any liquid finish that has had something added to it to fill the surface of the wood and make it more sandable after drying. We would pick a lacquer or a shellac as the liquid because they are fast drying and relatively transparent. But, the sanding sealer could just as easilly be an oil or latex paint, an oil finish such as Tung or Linseed Oil, or any of the varnish resins in either an oil or waterborne finish.
You could make your own sanding sealer by adding fine wood dust to the lacquer or shellac. The commercial products use a stearate, which is a fine semi-transparent soap-like powder that does the same thing and is a better lubrication for the sandpaper.
If we are using the sanding sealer to cover our mistakes, we are also covering the wood. Whatever is used, it is a fine powdered particle that is not transparent. Although many woodturners will advocate their use as a finish, a sanding sealer has neither the gloss, clarity, nor durability of the lacquer or shellac by itself.
I believe that the reason that you got the mess uing Turpentine with the Deft, is that the Deft is a Nitrocelulose Lacquer, and Turpentine is the wrong thinner to use with it. Thin it with lacquer thinner.
>There are some uses for a sanding sealer besides as a surface preparation under a "finish".
A sanding sealer can be better than using a wax to fill soft end-grain wood to make it easier to cut. The shellac or lacquer will solidify the wood, the fillers will fill the wood grain, and their lubrication will reduce the cutting forces.
The same lubrication qualities that make sanding easier can also aid the turning tool. This works very well for a light finish cut with a spindle gouge or scraper.
>Thanks Russ for you quick responses. So what is a cellulose sealer compared to Deft's sanding sealer? Am I correct that it isn't really a good product to use for a finish and then wax? Thanks so much for sharing your advice with the rest of the world.
>Deft sealer and any other sanding sealer are the same thing.
Even there is no use of the word "lacquer" anywhere on the can or in its literature, Deft is a nitrocellulose lacquer. It uses thinners that evaporate slowly enough that it can be applied with a brush, and it is the only readily available lacquer that I know of that is brushable as it comes from the can.