Mike Pekovich has a great series on building an Arts and Crafts Glass Front Cabinet out of quarter sawn white oak. I’ve built a white oak project and am ready to apply the finish. Mike give lots of great instruction but he didn’t mention (or I missed it) how much he sands the wood prior to fuming.
What are your thoughts on how far to take the sanding process. What grits? How much work with the card scraper? Any tips would be appreciated.
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Hmmm... I guess the goal is to abrade as little of stain as possible. Looks like you might want to test a piece first. First coat will raise grain. I would think a pained or scrap finish would make sanding in-between the least aggressive. I would Plane/scrape and move on to 320. Or sand to 120, then do a water coat to raise grain, then sand to 220, then stain, then lacquer etc.
I'm not 100% sure, but I would want to raise the grain and sand as if you're about to apply a final finish immediately prior to fuming.
There's the old adage that states 'Sand until you think you are done. Now sand that much again'.
Not real scientific but, will help you assure good results until you get more comfortable with the process. When sanding or polishing we are making a series of finer and finer scratch patterns until we get the "smoothness" we are after. Each finer grit pattern must completely overtake the previous coarser grit just like when we are sharpening cutters.
Since you are fuming, not staining, the idea of stopping at a coarser grit in order for the surface to absorb more colorant doesn't really come into play. I would get your piece to the point you would normally apply your top coat, fume it, and then apply your top coat of choice.
I will sand down to 150 grit prior to fuming white oak and give it light pass with 220 after to go over all areas and find if the wood has been scratched or nicked during handling . Fuming goes far in the wood and subsequent sanding will not affect color.
Get it to final finished surface including any corner easing and ready for clear coat before you fume. Plan for a non-grain-raising first coat of finish and there should be no need to sand at all.
I've fumed white oak with anhydrous ammonia and a 48-hour soak. I would not risk a card scraper after that. Lower strength ammonia / shorter soaks will affect how deep the color change goes.
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