yucky light wood

[tinybr]

how do i keep lighter colored wood from looking dirty on the finish side of it? i clean with dna, but thes burls have so much stuff in and around them, that the lighter parts sometimes look "dirty".any thoughts on clean up?[?]

 

[Fangar]

Many times, a thin coat of CA before any sanding will help to keep the darker colors or bushing debris out of the grain. This works well for me.

Fangar

 

[ilikewood]

Fangar's comment works.

Another possibility is use this problem to your advantage. Sand a wood with color (say bloodwood, ebony, etc) and rub that dust into the cracks and crevices of your pen. It enhances the grain in many cases. You could use one of the fine powdered stones as well.

 

[gketell]

Two other solutions I have heard of but not tried (too new to the hobby/business to have needed it yet):

1) Sandpaper on the bottom, papertowel with DNA on top to catch the sawdust before it can get back around to be ground into to wood.

2) Sandpaper on the bottom, air compressor hose on top blowing the sawdust away before ....

GK

 

[Draken]

I've had good success using BLO to remove the sanding dust. It will darken the wood a bit though, so it depends on the final look you are going for.

Cheers,
Draken

 

[clthayer]

I use yellow sand paper for the course grits, then with 320 I usually do a slurry with the dust and ca, then sand with darker colored finer grits and mm.

Christian

 

[BigRob777]

FRW,
Don't feel bad. I did a pen out of some beautiful black striped padauk, with a curly maple center band and when I hit it with DNA, it turned the CB orange. It's a lighter orange than the padauk, but not by too much. Our tenant liked it, so she got it for Christmas. I hope to do a lot with bloodwood and maple in the future, so I'll try Fangar's method.
Merry Christmas,
Rob