Silky Oakie

[Christos]

I find that the silky oak I have is difficult to get a super smooth finish. I have accepted this as part of the characteristics of the wood. As I have quite a few blanks it seemed that I needed to come up with a process when finishing.

This is what I have been doing.

Sand with 120
Sand with 180
Apply sanding sealer(Ubeaut) and wait for it to dry
Sand again with 180
Sand with 240
Apply sanding sealer(Ubeaut) and wait for it to dry
Sand again with 240
Sand with 320

It may seem like a lot of work which at times it is watching sanding sealer to dry but really it's not like paint. :U

The smaller bowl was from an off cut which was about 40mm thick and I attached a glue block so that I didn't loose too much.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.

369204 369205 369206

[Cool Runnings]

Some very good work there and agreed, it is difficult to control minor tearout on this material.

I just finished making a benchtop in 'Silky' and instead of using the thicknesser , adopted to use the Torque WorkCentre with a router (50m) cutter.

The results were pleasing in the end.

Cheers-

[hughie]

I sand on the lathe with a inertia sander and it works just fine on Silky Oak.

[powderpost]

I use northern silky oak (cardwellius sublimus) quite a lot, and southern silky oak as well. Silky oak is a very open pored timber, to get a good finish, you may need three of four applications of grain filler (sanding sealer) depending how it is applied. I use a spirit based sanding sealer, applied with a coarse cloth. While it is still tacky, I will rub it in with a coarse rag dampened with lacquer thinners, across the grain. When it is dry I will sand it with 240# paper until I see wood dust appear. If there is tiny specks of white dust, this indicates that the grain is not yet filled. Repeat the process until the tiny specks of white dust are no longer present. The grain is now filled and ready for final coats of a finish. Sand each coat with progressively finer paper until you are happy with the finish. For a subdued finish, rub back with 0000 steel wool, for a gloss, rub back with something like EEE. Well that's what I do any way.

Hope that helps.

Jim

[hughie]

Here you go some some Silky I did a while back. I will try and get a close up of it later, as this one is getting a refurbishment after copping some gallery damage. No sealer, 240 grit on the inertia and hand sand the fiddly bits.

[hughie]

My apologies Christos I clean forgot to get a couple of close ups and now its impossible as its in New Zealand.:no:

[Christos]

My apologies Christos I clean forgot to get a couple of close ups and now its impossible as its in New Zealand.:no:

No worries. One of my visits to Saw DustMaker shed I looked at a piece he was making out of Silky Oak and it was very smooth. Mine have not even come close to be that smooth.

I guess I just need to persist a little bit longer.

[wheelinround]

They look good Christos but it comes down to how they feel and if you are happy and of course you are not. Safe to say if needed I have 3 nice Silky blanks sitting here for you to continue the process.:U