Replies

1. 
   blewcrowe | May 05, 2008 02:47pm | #1

   Creep, it's got me scratching, because I've made some pieces from PH and didn't treat it any differently than any other wood. Typical grit progression, like you described. Can you be more descriptive of what it looks or feels like?

   Denny

1. 
   pzaxtl | May 06, 2008 05:44am | #3

   Creep, it's got me scratching

   HAHAHAHA!!  Bet he changes his screen name after that post!

1. 
   blewcrowe | May 06, 2008 03:18pm | #4

   Well, no bad intended. It IS part of his screenname.

2. 
   douglas2cats | May 05, 2008 06:04pm | #2

   I had better luck scraping it. I didnt have trouble sanding it but sanding just left a surface that looked a bit duller.

    

   If you build it he will come.

3. 
   mufti | May 06, 2008 08:14pm | #5

                I think you are doing everything right, just not enough.

   The heart was shaped with sharp chisels and files and then sanded from 400 grit to 1500 grit, then burnished. The wood behaves more like a soft stone than a hard wood as a consequence of the fine sandings acting as a lubricant and packing the pores, but using wet and dry and cleaning often makes life tolerable.

   
1. 
   blewcrowe | May 06, 2008 08:16pm | #6

   handles more like a stone..........

   Yeah, I get sparks when I run it through my bandsaw. No sh*t.

   Denny

4. 
   WillGeorge | May 06, 2008 11:17pm | #7

   I use Purpleheart all the time. One of my favorite woods. I NEVER sand above 120 grit. On ANY wood I use!  Mostly Purpleheart, Jatoba, Ash, and Hickory in that order. Sometimes Oak and Walnut. And on occasion Cherry and other woods I find attractive at the time..

   The following is subject to your standards! Which are probably higher than mine!

   I will state however, I AM NO FINISHING EXPERT!  That said.. I have hardly ever used any sandpaper above 120 grit. I feel it is a waste of time. OK, so in my eyes I never see 'that much' improvement.

   I sand the best I can and then finish off with a newly sharpened hand scraper. I like using Tung Oil (maybe watching David Marks more often that I should?)

   I rub down the 'sticks' using very little Tung Oil and start off with the green 3-M pads and let it dry a day or two.. Then I will re-work using a liberal coat of Tung oil and the grey/Gray? 3-M pads..  OK, so I do not like GLOSS finishes.. Just me..

   As I recall Tage Frid was not a big fan of using much over 220 grit and finishing off with 3/0 steel wool.

1. 
   SteveSchoene | May 07, 2008 05:30am | #8

   Using a cabinet scraper is equivalent to sanding with a much finer grit than 120.  People who are just going to use sandpaper should continue on to 180 or 220 for a film finish, and to 320 or even 400 when using an oil finish, though that fine sanding under an oil finish will benefit the maker more than the user since the effects will more or less disappear in a few weeks as the finish and wood oxidizes. 

   Why use sandpaper at all?  If you hand plane the surface with a finely set smooth plane, and then finish with a scraper, your scrapers will stay sharp way longer, you will get to the point of being ready for the scraper in less time.  If you are staining it is a good idea to finish with a very light sanding with about 220 so all surfaces, including those hard to scrape, have been uniformly scratched.  It helps the stain go on more evenly.   

   David Marks doesn't use tung oil--never has apparently--he uses a wiping varnish Arm-R-Seal for his top coat.  Most of the tung oil "finish" products out there are not pure tung oil, many don't use tung oil as an ingredient.  Real tung oil behaves differently, taking quite a while longer to cure between coats. And really taking 5-6 coats, sanding between each coat, to achieve a satin sheen.  Gloss is just not possible with pure tung oil. 

1. 
   WillGeorge | May 08, 2008 01:37pm | #9

   Using a cabinet scraper is equivalent to sanding with a much finer grit than 120. 

   I agree BUT a scraper gives a better finish in my opinion only.

   If you hand plane the surface with a finely set smooth plane..

   I do not have a finely set smooth plane! As I have stated in posts I gave up trying to plane Purpleheart. I was thinking of getting a quality scraping? plane.. Not sure the exact name.

   David Marks doesn't use tung oil--never has apparently--  HE CALLS IT THAT! I have no idea. I use Rockers so called pure Tung Oil. Take a 'bit' to dry but it gives me time to think of what I need to do next.. I like it.. I'm not a big fan of GLOSS finishes unless it is a Top-O-The-Line Jaguar XK!

   By the way just funnin' ya'. Except I have no quality planes... I appreciate your thoughts.