Final finish on walnut and oak

[Ron in Illinois]

I have been making pens out of walnut and oak. No matter how I
high I try to sand they appear very smooth but the pores seem
to be very prevalant, like white dots. Looking for direction to
make the final finish/color to be more of a consistant color.
Do I need to use a filler? Using Hut crystal finish.
Thank
Ron

 

[Padre]

You could use a sanding sealer or Woodturner's polish

 

[hewunch]

Sand the barrel but don't clean it. Drizzle some thin ca over it as you sand some more (220 grit or higher) and create a slurry. Let that dry and sand again. You willnhave a smooth surface to finish over.

 

[JimMc7]

I sand wood through 1200 grit before CA finish. On walnut & oak, I have to do two passes of CA application. I don't know if it matters, but I apply CA & polish like with other woods, sand back to 600 g & 1200 g then do the same process again. Sometimes I have to go through a 3rd iteration but eventually get a smooth finish with no white spots.

Edit to add: I do polish with wet micro mesh as part of the polishing CA step so that may rinse some of the CA dust out of the pores, too.

 

[Texatdurango]

Sanding sealer is designed to just what you want........ and that is to fill in those little pits so you can have a nice smooth surface for your finish.

On almost every wood pen I make, I apply at the very least, one coat of Mylands sanding sealer, usually just before applying the ca finish. A side benefit is that it really brings out the color and grain of the wood.

Mylands http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001947/9605/Cellulose-Sanding-Sealer.aspx dries within seconds and can be sanded within minutes so applying several thin coats with sanding in-between provides for a mirror smooth surface. I bought mine at Woodcraft but the other day I noticed the local Lowes had some in their paint/stain area.

 

[sbwertz]

Sand the barrel but don't clean it. Drizzle some thin ca over it as you sand some more (220 grit or higher) and create a slurry. Let that dry and sand again. You willnhave a smooth surface to finish over.

This is what I do, too. It fills the pores with matching sawdust and ca and leaves a smooth finish. I also use it to fill endgrain on bowls.

Sharon

 

[edavisj316]

The reason you are having to go back that many times is because you are not making the slurry to fill the voids.

Woods with an open grain like Walnut and Oak need to have the first coat sanded in. This overcomes the surface tension of the finish and fills in all the voids that will never go away through sanding. Even sanding in BLO will work.

 

[ldb2000]

I love walnut , it's my favorite flat work wood and it makes wonderful pens even if the grain is just plain . To get rid of the sanding dust in the pores I use Teak oil to clean the blanks . You could use BLO or almost any other oil but I like the fact that the Teak oil doesn't change the color of the wood , it just brings out the chatoyance in the wood , it also cleans the pores so you don't end up with the white specs in them .
I use the oil almost as a friction finish , I apply it and hold it on the blank at high speed until it dries and begins to shine . I then do my normal CA finish then put it back on the lathe and sand as usual then buff with white diamond .