Cleaning wood grain.

[MAB11]

I did a Celtic knot using a tutorial I found here on the IAP. (Awesome tutorial btw) After I finished turning and sanding I cleaned my blanks with acetone. Everything appeared clean so I started a CA finish. After a few coats I noticed the Redheart dust coming out of my Maple grain! Is there a better way to clean or a way to keep from "contaminating" contrasting woods?

 

[monophoto]

The contamination may be oil from the red heart that is being dissolved into the CA, and then spread over the maple. That could especially be the case if you are using a medium or thick CA.

It may be necessary to seal the surface of the wood using a few coats of either thin CA or a shellac-based sanding sealer before you start applying the thicker stuff.

 

[MAB11]

Thanks! Any suggestions as to what brand or type of sanding sealer? Do I apply it on the lathe? Are there any drawbacks to using SS? As you can tell i've never used SS on pens.

 

[monophoto]

I've never used SS on pens, but then I never been successful at segmenting with pens either. Hmm - could be a correlation there.

I routinely use SS on bottle stoppers to prevent bleeding from exotic woods. I use Zinsser's sealer - it's cheap and readily available at the hardware store.

But if you wipe the turning with either acetone or DNA to remove surface oils, thin CA should do the same thing for you - you want something that will penetrate into the wood and dry very quickly to seal the surface so that the natural oils in the wood cannot get back to the surface where they will be picked up by finishes that are wiped across multiple segments.

I use three applications of SS on bottle stoppers, buffing lightly with 4/0 steel wool between coats.

 

[MAB11]

Thanks Louie, I'll give it a shot.