Thread: Sanding back between coats

Originally Posted by aabb

I sanded a test piece of Tas oak (vis ash) to 800 grade and applied some intergrain tung oil .....
Came out a bit rough as expected so sanded back and redid....

In sanding back I started with 300 and back up to 800 then reapplied finish.

Comments / feed back appreciated..

* Did I go back far enough or too far with 300

* A lot of original coat seemed to be removed -- perhaps I sanded too much though I feel that when 800 was finished that it was not as smooth as it originally was...

* Think three coats about right - depending on how that finishes I may or may not apply ubeaut trad wax ...


Your views appreciated please

Thanks
Albert

Hi Albert,

With something as relatively soft as Tas Oak (whichever of the three species actually marketed under this someehat misleading 'label' - see other threads on this), I tend to use 1: a smoother plane, followed by 2: a scraper. Together they are much more effective than sanding.

However, if sand you must, then go with the grain, and take it to at least 600 grit, aluminium oxide for preference.

If you just want to wax the item, I've found that a Scotch fine sanding brick loaded with uBeaut EEE is fantastic for getting a super smooth finish. If, however, you want to apply some other finish, then shellac (no oil) plus uBeaut is very good.

For many oils, Tung, etc, you really need to let it 'settle' for a few days, depending on humidity & temperature. After it's cured, just a buff with 600+, plus more coats as required.

Cheers!

Steve, like Bassoon I am a great fan of the cabinet scraper.....not a hard tool to master and the results are well worth the effort.

Cheers Martin (Master Scrapeologist)

Albert

Not that I am an expert, but you are seeing the nap raise on the timber. Once you have sanded this out, it shouldn't really come back. To finish, I sanded back to 600 or 800, wet it down with hot water and, once dry, sanded back to 6-800 again. Then a coat of the oil, but I only lightly cut the oil back with 600 from memory as you are only trying to knock off the bumps from uneven oil application. Oil again, very light sand, then oil again etc.

Cutting the oil back took less than a minute each time if I remember right. Don't sand too much as you don't want to sand right through the finish.

I now have a digital camera and took some photos of my hall table on the weekend, so I will post them tomorrow.

Trav

I'm in the process of finishing a table top of Tas Oak. For the first coat of oil (Minwax wipe on Poly in this case) I allowed it a few minutes to soak in then went at it with a random orbital sander (600 grit). The resulting slurry fills the grain and gives a nice hard smooth finish for subsequent coats of oil and/or wax.

Thanks for advice chaps.

I am certainly going to look at scrapers (looks like dark side is starting to bite!!)... will read posts here... but for this jobs its sandpaper ...........

Look like I was sanding back bit too much so will go easier on real thing

Trav looking forward to seeing the photos...... my job come to pretty much standstill recently as have had to put in big hours at work - year end accounts... (I know, how dare i let work get in the way?).

Albert