leave hand planed or sand before applying Tried and True oil finish?
Dear All,
I am nearing completion of a Shaker nightstand. I am going to use Tried and True oil on it (firm decision, I’ve practiced, 2 or 3 coats of their linseed oil+pine resin then 1 or 2 coats of their linseed oil + beeswax). The piece I practiced on was a highly figured maple. This is mostly cherry with some figured maple and ebony inlay. Just prior to glue up, I sharpened up and used fine hand plane settings to smooth all surfaces that will be oiled. In Becksvoort’s FWW article (Nov/Dec 2021) he talks sanding up to 400 grit to avoid blotching. I rarely sand anything as I prefer and planed surface over an abraded surface. Just curious if you have any thoughts on if I should sand up to 400 grit or apply the oil on the freshly planed surface. I’ve never done a side-by-side comparison. Many thanks for the feedback.
Sincerely,
Joe
Replies
Do the side by side comparison! Fine finishing is all about sample boards. Hopefully you have some off cuts from the cherry that you can play with. Its worth the effort.
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Do us a favor and get over yourself
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I personally like the classic look of T&T over a planed cherry surface.
Here’s a 2010 side-by-side finishing article: Pekovich vs. Christiana.
Surface-Prep Shootout
A contest in the FWW shop reveals two great paths to a perfect finish
By Asa Christiana #212–May/June 2010 Issue
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2010/04/08/surface-prep-shootout
Thanks for the article! It was even done on the same type of piece I'm making.
Do samples. Always do samples when you try something new.
Thanks John. As you and others have suggested, I am going to do a sample board on the cutoffs with both methods. Based on the FWW article above, it looks like the hand plane may be slightly better. However, if I do it, I will know once and for all.
This is one of the greatly debated topics of the woodworking world! A few 'tools' and 'methods' to throw into the discussion:
* 0000 steel wool - does appear to have a positive effect on finish, especially on stuff coming off a lathe or the like. Downsides: takes a long time, some times the steel wool will leave small metal 'pieces' on the wood, producing an undesirable metal/gray appearance.
* card scrapper - amazing tool, smooth as baby's butt finish. A well sharpened scrapper moves a lot of wood fast, amazingly so, and without regard to grain, making outcomes easy to obtain even for dumb people like myself. Downside: SO HARD to get and maintain a good, sharp edge. I spend more time trying to get this edge than I do using the edge. If someone had a re-sharpening service or the like, I would use it. Maybe a carbide scrapper would work and hold its edge longer?
Best of luck and thanks for bringing up this issue. I did enjoy reading the FWW Surface Prep article.
I can’t get my card scraper sharp. If anyone has a good method, I love to hear too!
Paul Sellers has some good YouTube videos on how to sharpen a card scraper. I'd look at them. I think most folks angle the burnisher too much and press too hard when making the burr it isn't light pressure, but it definitely isn't heavy. Also, there is a "trick" to find what angle you need to hold the card scraper at. Start with the card scraper perpendicular to the surface and slowly move it forward while tilting the card scraper forward. The scraper will move easily until you have the proper angle for the burr and then you will feel it grab. Learned how to sharpen a card scraper and the tilt trick while moving forward at a LieNielsen hand tool event back when they did road shows to sell tools.
This burnishing tool made a big difference for me. I no longer have to worry about keeping the right and consistent angle on the burnisher for creating the burr. It has grooves that do it for you. Its easy to use, you just have to keep it level. I bought just the burnishing rod by itself and turned my own handles. It came with a layout pattern for the handles. Its fast, does both sides at the same time and creates a sharp consistent burr on properly prepared scrapers.
https://www.heartwoodtools.com/accu-burr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLXwhURj_2U
+1 for the burnishing tool.
Chancito,
check out the Woodsmith card scraper tool sold at Woodcraft - Item 141025 Model 7512124 $78.50. I have had great success with it and once you get your scraper correctly sharpened it is a breeze to keep it that way.
Thanks does look like something functional
On the maple piece, one the show side I used 0000 steel wool, on the underside I didn't. There was a subtle difference with the 0000 looking better. You could never see that difference in a photograph but you could in person..