Sanding+TruOil issues

[wazkelly]

Should add that i have also applied Tru Oil with 1200, 1500 & 2000 grit paper which helps to smooth things as you go but it doesn't take much for things build up in funky ways that are hard to rectify once many, many layers hsve been done.

Method outlined before is simplest and best way to go, particularly for anyone new to this process.

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[Peace_less]

Alright, I feel like I am getting somewhere with this.

First off, I now realize my mistake with sanding. I didn't understand what "tack cloth" was and thus failed to fix spots with endgrain, as they got filled with wood dust.

Second, it is not important to me to fix all the stains, but I do want the thing to be evenly smooth. So I will try sanding down the rough spots and continue from there.

So far, maybe due to not using filler, I could see the wood responding to the oil only on the top, which means I probably didn't build anything up. So I will wait to next weekend for it all to solidify, then start sanding down with 80 to see what happens.

Since the back is pretty good I would consider sanding down the sides all the way to bare wood, but I am worried about the binding. It is about 1 mm thick and thus can be eaten away if not careful.

In any case, this build will not be perfect and I will not try to make it as such.

[Simon Barden]

The binding is pretty tough, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It can take a lot of sanding and scraping (if you are cleaning paint or stain off it) and still look as it did before.

[Peace_less]

The binding is pretty tough, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It can take a lot of sanding and scraping (if you are cleaning paint or stain off it) and still look as it did before.

I have already sanded some of the binding off in the neck pocket area and around its edges, so we either have a different definition of "tough", or I got gorilla hands. Probably both.

But sharp change of subject, I've read in one of your diaries that you can use alcohol to see glue marks in advance. I probably should do this next time. Is there a professional term for "white spirits"?

[Simon Barden]

Where in the world are you? It's a turpentine substitute, used for cleaning wet paintbrushes, (but not a dedicated brush cleaner for cleaning dried paint off brushes). You can use turpentine, but it's about twice the price, if not more, though it smells a lot nicer. It's just that it doesn't cause the wood fibres to swell as water does.

[Peace_less]

We have two kinds of turpentine here, one of them synthetic. I guess that's the stuff.

And I am in Israel. Imagine the challenges I face - have to translate yaalls handiman lingo to proper English, then to Hebrew, then to Hebrew Handiman Lingo (tm).

Took me a while to find "Tack Cloth" here.

[Peace_less]

Oh and feast your eyes on the drying rack I just cobbled together after yall's comments made me realize I have weeks to go still and I need my table clear.

[Simon Barden]

Nice drying rack.

I have to tidy up from time to time and lose my workbench as well, so I sympathise.

[wazkelly]

If you are worried about damaging the binding whilst sanding try using some high quality painters masking tape to cover it so that the sandpaper can attack that before going too far through. The masking tape will also give you a border to work with and once most of the heavy sanding has been done simply remove for the final light higher grade grit sanding.

With some of the end grain it does take a lot of work to get really smooth and sometimes you need to sand with the direction of machine marks to take them off and once that has been accomplished you revert back to sanding in the direction of the grain to remove any cross grain scratches introduced from sanding.

Quite often that end grain around where bottom strap button would be located is very stubborn and you may have to do your best and then decide if will be good enough. Always wipe down with something wet, whether you use water, methylated spirts, Turps, whatever to get an idea of how things will look once coats of finish are applied.

Cheers, Waz

[blinddrew]

Just a quick note to say that I've found this a really useful thread, thanks all!