hand-sanding cherry?

Tom wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of doing the final prep on a pair of cherry
> nightstands, and have a question about the level of sanding required. I
> used my ROS to move through 120, 150, 180 and 220 grit and have a surface
> that appears to look great under a raking light. There are no visible swirl
> marks that I can see, but I'm assuming they are there and will pop when I
> apply Watco's Natural to it.
>
> When I try to do a final hand-sanding using 240 grit to get rids of the
> "unseen" swirl marks, I seem to add more visible scratches than I may be
> removing. I'm sanding with the grain using a felt pad block and am careful
> to apply an even pressure, but I've tried this twice now and keep getting
> some very fine visible scratches on the surface.
>
> Any suggestions? Should I stop at 220 grit with the ROS, or am I looking
> for trouble with the swirl marks later? Maybe go with a higher grit for the
> hand-sanding?


so do a test on scrap. sand to 220 and oil it.

there isn't too much point to sanding cherry much finer than that
before finishing. what you can do to continue to refine the surface is
sand with wet/dry sandpaper (the black stuff) with the surface wet with
oil. if you sand to 220 or perhaps 320 dry, pick up at 400 or 500 with
the wet sanding. this will give an amazing surface... work with the
wood flooded with oil and wipe dry several times over a period of a few
hours after each sanding session.

What he said- scrapers. Cabinet scrapers. Until I tried them, I was a
sander-junkie.

Scrape it, seal it, scrape it again very lightly- much better results
than w/sanding. IMHO. Definitely the way to go where it matters, and
faster than you might imagine.

J

"Tom" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of doing the final prep on a pair of cherry
> nightstands, and have a question about the level of sanding required. I
> used my ROS to move through 120, 150, 180 and 220 grit and have a surface
> that appears to look great under a raking light. There are no visible
> swirl marks that I can see, but I'm assuming they are there and will pop
> when I apply Watco's Natural to it.
>
> When I try to do a final hand-sanding using 240 grit to get rids of the
> "unseen" swirl marks, I seem to add more visible scratches than I may be
> removing. I'm sanding with the grain using a felt pad block and am
> careful to apply an even pressure, but I've tried this twice now and keep
> getting some very fine visible scratches on the surface.
>
> Any suggestions? Should I stop at 220 grit with the ROS, or am I
> looking for trouble with the swirl marks later? Maybe go with a higher
> grit for the hand-sanding?
>

320 will be fine for an oil finish, 220 for a surface finish. Unless you're
thinking of burnishing the surface. You are absolutely correct in saying
that directional scratches are more discernable than random scratches.
Fortunately, they close up when some oil is absorbed into the wood.

Watco says to wet sand with 400 as you apply, should you care to. I'd
rather have some diffraction from the pores, myself.

> When I try to do a final hand-sanding using 240 grit to get rids of the
> "unseen" swirl marks, I seem to add more visible scratches than I may be
> removing. I'm sanding with the grain using a felt pad block and am careful
> to apply an even pressure, but I've tried this twice now and keep getting
> some very fine visible scratches on the surface.

Be very sure that there is no 'grit' left from previous, coarser sandings.
DAMHIKT.

-John

In article <[email protected]>,
"Tom" <[email protected]> wrote:

[snipped for brevity]
> Any suggestions? Should I stop at 220 grit with the ROS, or am I looking
> for trouble with the swirl marks later? Maybe go with a higher grit for the
> hand-sanding?

Yes. A higher grit than machine sanding. I'd go from 240 machine ROS to
320 by hand. With cherry I'd go to 400.
Having said that, why hand sand if you can go ROS to 320?

I'm of the opinion that there are roughly two grit-steps difference
between hand- and machine sanding.... at least from 180 on up.

I wouldn't worry about swirlmarks too much if you're going Natural Watco.
If you were staining, you would have to be severely punished of course.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:45:34 GMT, "Tom" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of doing the final prep on a pair of cherry
>nightstands, and have a question about the level of sanding required. I
>used my ROS to move through 120, 150, 180 and 220 grit and have a surface
>that appears to look great under a raking light. There are no visible swirl
>marks that I can see, but I'm assuming they are there and will pop when I
>apply Watco's Natural to it.
>
> When I try to do a final hand-sanding using 240 grit to get rids of the
>"unseen" swirl marks, I seem to add more visible scratches than I may be
>removing. I'm sanding with the grain using a felt pad block and am careful
>to apply an even pressure, but I've tried this twice now and keep getting
>some very fine visible scratches on the surface.
>
> Any suggestions? Should I stop at 220 grit with the ROS, or am I looking
>for trouble with the swirl marks later? Maybe go with a higher grit for the
>hand-sanding?
>
>
>
Tom, I take a Scotch Brite pad and cut it into a circle a little
bigger than the dia. of my ROS. Then put a 80 grit disk on your ROS
and then stick the Scotch Brite on the that. It will stay on, but try
on scrap first. I use red then grey. This also works for sanding out
between poly coats.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:45:34 GMT, "Tom" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of doing the final prep on a pair of cherry
>nightstands, and have a question about the level of sanding required. I
>used my ROS to move through 120, 150, 180 and 220 grit and have a surface
>that appears to look great under a raking light. There are no visible swirl
>marks that I can see, but I'm assuming they are there and will pop when I
>apply Watco's Natural to it.
>
> When I try to do a final hand-sanding using 240 grit to get rids of the
>"unseen" swirl marks, I seem to add more visible scratches than I may be
>removing. I'm sanding with the grain using a felt pad block and am careful
>to apply an even pressure, but I've tried this twice now and keep getting
>some very fine visible scratches on the surface.
>
> Any suggestions? Should I stop at 220 grit with the ROS, or am I looking
>for trouble with the swirl marks later? Maybe go with a higher grit for the
>hand-sanding?
>
>
>

To get an idea of how it will turn out, wipe it down with mineral spirits
-- that will give you a little while to examine the surface for what a
finish will show.

I've always sanded to 320 grit, but most recently have been trying to
exclusively use planes and scrapers.





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