I mean, to seal end grain with paint takes about 2-3 more coats than usual. That said, a small can of shellac thinned out 3:1 dnatALC:shellac is ~ 1.50, and it works better than risking showing the endgrain still. I've painted enclosures and speakers every way but the right way (look around for some pics of my ****, and I mean **** //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif ) and in the end, the sand, seal and prime steps independent of one another seems to turn out the best results. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to wetsand down some orange peel //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif