Turned this platter a short time ago and except for the usual problems associated with half rotten wood all went well, until I started spraying a finish. Finish is shellac from a rattle can. I've used it countless times before with no problems but this tia spot centered on the bottom keeps soaking up finish like no tomorrow. As of now I have put more coats of finish in that spot than I can remember sanded back refinished and refinished again. Now I have pretty much decided that it is what it is and set it aside. So if someone has a solution I'm all ears Front Problem spot.

That is nice Rusty, a lot of different grain patterns .

I've heard of using shellac as a sealant to prevent staining when using CA glue. Wonder if you could put CA on that spot and then respray the shellac? Maybe the CA will prevent the absorption of the shellac.

Do you have any canned shellac? It does come in quart cans, so... I would use the canned shellac and just drip a little on the problem area, allow to dry, rinse and repeat until the pores are filled.

2 minutes ago, Wichman3 said:

Do you have any canned shellac? It does come in quart cans, so... I would use the canned shellac and just drip a little on the problem area, allow to dry, rinse and repeat until the pores are filled.

Shur do, I buy that by the gallon, tried that already, ran out of patience. this thing soaks up finish worse than a dish rag does water. I should mention that I have no idea what kind of wood this is. found it in a weed patch out at our local tree dump, no bark, too big to have fallen from a local tree, and obviously cut from something local, so possibilities are Siberian elm, hackberry, cotton wood, ash, silver maple, or one of the oaks, wrong color for mulberry or hedge, wrong everything for pine or spruce. Thanks for suggestions and keep them coming, keep thinking there's got to be a way

I thought it was spalted sycamore. I had some pieces that greatly resembled what you have.

The wood was so punky that I saturated the entire piece with CA to get it turned/sanded.

I may have to resort to ca. But I have this fear of staining and ruining the bottom of this plater and right now that is a stumbling block. Guess I just need to do something.

13 minutes ago, Rusty S said:

I may have to resort to ca. But I have this fear of staining and ruining the bottom of this plater and right now that is a stumbling block. Guess I just need to do something.

How about just a dot of CA near a darker (Red circle) area and the see if shellac soaks in?

At first I was thinking punky but now believe there was something that soaked into the wood in that area. Have you tried sanding the area out? Another way is to decorate that area with Sorby Spiral or Wagner tool .

Well go back to thinking punky and add end grain this piece had about every horror you could imagine. no it's not turned completely end grain it changes, i didn't think it was possible but here it is. Love your idea of texture or spiral decoration but I don't own any of those tools so still looking for plan B. Still thinking about Lew's suggestion on using CA. Maybe if I can stop arguing with myself.