newbie finishing....

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r-ice

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Hi, Okay I thought I had this down but obviously I don't lol.

When I'm ready for the sanding. I'll sand at 150,220,400, then all the mm's. I next then follow one of the ways i learned in the library, where Russ Fairfield's Video Tips you start with thick ca quickly put on a layer then put linsead oil on. for a couple times then finish with HUT.

I find that my pens come out very matte in colour and rough, not shinny. Do I need to sand again somewhere or what do i do short of tearing out my hair !!! lol
 
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Aaron, quite sure that you will get about a bazillion different answers. Here's my .02 worth. Unless your blank is extremely rough, you don't need to start with 150 you can start with a finer grit, say 320 or even 400, once your are satisfied with the smoothness, apply your CA/BLO or CA or any combo thereof making sure that each application is cured before applying the next coat. Sanding between each coat LIGHTLY,(not all grits) will keep your coats smooth. You do not want to over sand, otherwise, you are just removing the layer you just applied. Once you get say 3 to 6 coats on, then use the MM and wet sand going through each grit,again don't over work it. At the end of your 12000mm you should have a nice sheen and smooth surface that you can buff or apply polish. Hope this helps and stand by for other methods. This one works for me. Good luck!!
 
When I have flat spots or matte finish, I haven't applied enough CA to stand up to my sanding/polishing step of finishing the finish. What works for me recently is to apply 7 or 8 coats of medium CA with no intermediate sanding. After building up this thick (sometimes very rough) CA layer, I dry sand smooth with 600 grit with lathe at high speed and then cross sand with the lathe off. Repeat with 1200 grit. You should see only white CA powder when sanding -- you've gone too far if you see wood dust on the sandpaper. Next, wet (water) sand with MM from 3200 through 12000 and polish with Novus #2. I'm sure Hut would work for final polishing instead of Novus. I tried BLO for a time but it rarely resulted in glossy finish for me.
 
when you guys say wet sand, you mean take the regular paper sand paper and dip it in water? or spray the blank with water? then sand?
 
I have never had luck with thick CA. I think part of it is a freshness issue with CA. I buy a very cheap thin CA from Walmart. It comes 4 tubes in a pack for 1 dollar. I can get 2 pens from 1 tube. I go through it quickly so it never gets stale.
 
A related question about sanding between coats: if you are putting on multiple coats of CA or polyacrylic, is it only necessary to sand the last coat you apply? Will any roughness of the intermediate coats just be filled in by the subsequent coats?
 
PaulSF said:
A related question about sanding between coats: if you are putting on multiple coats of CA or polyacrylic, is it only necessary to sand the last coat you apply? Will any roughness of the intermediate coats just be filled in by the subsequent coats?
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I only sand at the end. I find all finishes need to harden a bit to be able to sand well. CA is ready to sand after a couple hours, poly finishes need a couple days. If you sand before that, the finish is still a bit soft and does not gloss up as nice.
 
r-ice said:
When I'm ready for the sanding. I'll sand at 150,220,400, then all the mm's. I next then follow one of the ways i learned in the library, where Russ Fairfield's Video Tips you start with thick ca quickly put on a layer then put linsead oil on. for a couple times then finish with HUT.
Click to expand...


My college professor, who had vast experience in the commercial furniture finishing field, taught that sanding any bare wood past 320 (now P400) was not only a waste of resourses but actually was detrimental. Sanding too fine burnishes the wood surface and prevents proper adhesion of a finish. This man was a wizard with a finish and I have found his advise quite accurate.
Finer grits are for cutting back the finish material to the sheen desired.
 
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