[Steve Davis]

Bret, It is best to apply a coat of sanding sealer before the grain filler. The seal coat will allow the grain filler to fill and darken the grain without darkening the whole surface. However, some brands of pre-tinted filler will darken the seal coat. For quite some time I had been using Behlen brand oil base grain filler in the natural color and using a dye to tint it and having pretty good luck, then I switched to Behlen pre-tinted walnut color. That turned out to be a big mistake! I nearly ruined a new reproduction cabinet. The filler darkened the seal coat much too dark. I now plan to experiment with some other fillers before finishing another cabinet.

Steve