First .. i have refinished hundreds of pieces and have used grain
fillers , lacquer and once & a while poly . I use spray equipment . I
have a very huge antique oak buffet here now that someone had refinished
Very professional strip job was done and stain color very good. I cant
tell what was used for a finish . Whatever it was it had to be wiped on
because it almost looks dry and nothing on the surface . Beyond figuring
out what that ?finish is my problem is the grain was not filled at all
and collects dust in the pits . This piece has massive carvings all over
it making it impossible to do any kind of grain filling .
Are there any techniques these days to possibly do this without having
to strip it again .
My first thought was to clean it real good and apply repeated finish
till its better .. i cant rub out those carvings . Thanks .
I don't know of anything you can do after the fact, and if the piece is
carved oak, good luck. Yes, you can build up several mils of finish to
make the pores less deep and easier to clean, but that would probably
come at the expense of appearance.
After the final finish is applied pore filling isn't really an option
unless the seal coat is paint.
To really fill the pores, I would think you would have to strip.
Robert