Noobie question about sanding hybrid stuff

[fnfalguy]

What is the best approach for sanding hybrid blanks? I've read that wet sanding is best, but wouldn't the wood portion absorb some of the water thus increasing the water content and potential create problems with movement?

Or do you wet sand with oil or similar? If so, what finishes are incompatable

 

[montmill]

I sand as I normally would. I suppose there's a chance you can get an uneven finish if the wood is soft. I know on bowls, esp. ash for example, you can get differences between spring wood and fall wood. Typically that wood is stabilized so I don't think that would be a problem.

 

[derekdd]

I dry sand to either 400 or 600 then apply a CA finish. Then sand that from 800-12,000.

Best? That's probably subjective but it does create a nice, hard, glossy finish.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

My approach is dry sand like you would normally do. Once you get to the point of wet sanding I use a CA finish. I'll put several coats of CA then start my wet sanding. Just make sure your not sealing scratches with the CA. I know that may seem odd don't seal scratches but it's not a difficult process.

 

[bugradx2]

I do the same as Kenny & Derek, dry sand (carefully) up to 600, CA finish and then wet sand up to 12,000 after the CA is on. I usually hit my blanks with a little flitz polish at the end for an extra shine too.

 

[ccccchunt]

I stabilize the majority of everything I cast into blanks so I know the pedigree of the material. I mostly do Pens, Stoppers, calls and handles and I wet sand for my hybrids. If the material is stabilized, then it should act just like any acrylic material. I sand up to 800 and then follow with Zona Paper.

 

[jrista]

While I like ccccchunts recommendation of stabilizing, I don't yet have all the equipment for that. Something I have started doing, and would do regardless, especially if you have some materials that are particularly hard (very hard hardwoods, metals, etc.) compared to softer woods, is to put some sanding paper on something flat and hard, and sand with that.

I have been using batches of those very large popsicle sticks, with strips of various grits of sandpaper, glued with contact cement. Each side of the stick has a different grit, and I have every grit from 400 up through 3000. The 400 grit stick has two different kinds, one non-wet that works REALLY well on most things on one side, and a wet/dry that works well on certain things and is usually better for resins. Then the rest of the grits are all distributed onto both sides of other sticks. I'll get a photo of my sandpaper popsicle stick sets tomorrow, if I can.

Anyway, having a hard, flat surface can help you make sure that you don't end up with peaks and valleys across softer and harder materials in a hybrid blank. I find its most useful when I create blanks with metals in them, but it is also useful when you say combine really hard woods, say katalox or lignum vitae or ebony, etc. with softer woods like maple. You usually get nice clean transitions across each material.

I've not been able to master this yet myself, but another option is to truly master using a skew, to the point where you can turn such a surface that you don't need to sand at all. I have only a couple of months overall under my belt with a skew, so I certainly cannot do this yet. I've seen some pens shared by other members on this forum who do that, and they can indeed look excellent. For some combinations of woods, turning this way would less prone to issues than sanding, as often sanding will leave you with alternate colored dust clogging the pores of other woods. For example, padauk with maple...your maple will pick up and hold the red sanding dust from the padauk. Walnut can capture lighter sanding dust in its pores. Stabilizing can help with that as it fills the mores and effectively seals the wood, but I suspect the best way to avoid it, is to not produce any sanding dust at all.