Sanding dark and lighter woods

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INSierra

INSierra

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2015
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40
Location
NW Indiana
I was sanding down an African Blackwood pen that I had put in lighter colored segments at angles. How do you guys reduce the amount of dark sand dust from embedding in the lighter colored wood? I wiped with mineral spirits , brushed with a tooth brush, and even tried a small sewing needle. It does not look terrible and most people would think it was just the grain of the lighter wood. If the segments were perpindicular to the Blackwood I could just sand those individually, but being at the angle makes that difficult. Thanks in advance.

Brian
 
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Not sure what all of the others use. For me, I use some kind of sanding sealer between sandpaper grits. I'm just finishing a can of Myland's Cellulose sanding sealer but other brands are available. Thin CA works nicely as well and I use it often. I like thin CA because of its quick drying time. Be sure to clean after sanding grits and before the next sealer application.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

INSierra said:
I was sanding down an African Blackwood pen that I had put in lighter colored segments at angles. How do you guys reduce the amount of dark sand dust from embedding in the lighter colored wood? I wiped with mineral spirits , brushed with a tooth brush, and even tried a small sewing needle. It does not look terrible and most people would think it was just the grain of the lighter wood. If the segments were perpindicular to the Blackwood I could just sand those individually, but being at the angle makes that difficult. Thanks in advance.

Brian
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Brian; Use a thin coat of CA or sanding sealer to close the open pores of the wood befor sanding. Now that you have spread the blackwood dust into your lighter wood, I find the best way to lighten the inlays would be to take a fine metal or diamond file and and file the light wood only with the lathe stopped. When you get it back to the color you want, use a tac rag or air hose to remove the dust, and seal. As Don says above, seal and dust between grits !! Jim S
 
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Don,

I use mylands sanding sealer also. I never tried between grits though. I normally wipe the blank down between grits with mineral spirits. It seems like the Blackwood dust is so fine it's just very difficult to get it out.
 
INSierra said:
Don,

I use mylands sanding sealer also. I never tried between grits though. I normally wipe the blank down between grits with mineral spirits. It seems like the Blackwood dust is so fine it's just very difficult to get it out.
Click to expand...

Brian; Sanding Sealer is not only made to seal the open pores, controll color grain changes when stain is applied, but also to be removed with the least amount of effort. I would try the thin CA. It will soak into the pores to seal them and not be quickly removed from them. Jim S
 
I just finished a Jr. Statesman with desert ironwood and had the same issues.. I used a combination of both methods. I kept the blanks very clean, used CA multiple times as I turned, and turned until I hit the dimensions- then used CA again and did as little sanding as possible. Also used CA between grits if needed. I found it a rather nit-picky process (and I didn't even turn anything else in the shop while the CA was drying, either so I wouldn't have dust in the finish) but it was worth the extra effort.
 
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