How can I polish a cube of cut wood

>Dean wrote:

>Starting from a cube cut with a chainsaw (so its rough), supposing I
>wanted plane, sand and polish the 6 sides to make a beautiful
>ornamental piece, tha shows the patterns well inside the wood. Just
>something to look at, that's all. I'd appreciate a few tips on how
>best to go about this. I am planning to plane the faces, then sand
>down until I'm using the finest paper. But I'm not sure about the
>cross-cut ends, if its even possible to do this on those two sides, or
>on any side if its cut out of a knot.
>
>Any suggestions welcomed.
>
>-Dean
>
>
Build a fixture to hold the rough cube, and use a backer piece when planing
the end grain? Tom
Work at your leisure!

Well, the heat you generate power sanding would certainly make a lot of end
checks.

Planing is the answer. Did some nice annual ring demos for one of our
science methods teachers using a LN low angle smoother.

Don't oil, shellac for best definition.

Good luck with the radial splits.

"Prometheus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 22 Nov 2004 13:41:23 -0800, [email protected] (Dean Brown)
> wrote:
>
> >Starting from a cube cut with a chainsaw (so its rough), supposing I
> >wanted plane, sand and polish the 6 sides to make a beautiful
> >ornamental piece, tha shows the patterns well inside the wood.
>
> Depending on how big it is, I'd probably do the initial smoothing on a
> belt sander to hog off most of the rough stuff, then use a cabinet
> scraper to finish it off. It's certainly possible to smooth and
> display endgrain, though how well it will look is going to depend on
> the species of wood. You're probably going to want to use a sealer
> before applying any stain to the end grain.

On 22 Nov 2004 13:41:23 -0800, [email protected] (Dean Brown)
wrote:

>Starting from a cube cut with a chainsaw (so its rough), supposing I
>wanted plane, sand and polish the 6 sides to make a beautiful
>ornamental piece, tha shows the patterns well inside the wood. Just
>something to look at, that's all. I'd appreciate a few tips on how
>best to go about this. I am planning to plane the faces, then sand
>down until I'm using the finest paper. But I'm not sure about the
>cross-cut ends, if its even possible to do this on those two sides, or
>on any side if its cut out of a knot.
>
>Any suggestions welcomed.

Depending on how big it is, I'd probably do the initial smoothing on a
belt sander to hog off most of the rough stuff, then use a cabinet
scraper to finish it off. It's certainly possible to smooth and
display endgrain, though how well it will look is going to depend on
the species of wood. You're probably going to want to use a sealer
before applying any stain to the end grain.

My .02



>-Dean

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam

The blocks are around 2x6x6 inches. So you guys recommend a hand plane
rather than an electric? I already have a dewalt electric and its
great, I have just never tried it on anything like this. Thanks all,
I'll give an update one day:)

-Dean

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 00:16:25 GMT, "Wilson Lamb"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I think there's a real danger of the end grain grabbing and damaging the
>planer, but I haven't tried it. Of course we don't know the size of the
>cube.
>
>Belt sander??
>Wilson

Planer?

A low angle hand plane and a cabinet scraper should work fine on the
end grain.

This sounds like a project begging for sharp hand tools. I'd like to
see pictures of it.

Barry

>On 22 Nov 2004 13:41:23 -0800, [email protected] (Dean Brown)
>wrote:
>
>>Starting from a cube cut with a chainsaw (so its rough), supposing I
>>wanted plane, sand and polish the 6 sides to make a beautiful
>>ornamental piece, tha shows the patterns well inside the wood. Just
>>something to look at, that's all. I'd appreciate a few tips on how
>>best to go about this. I am planning to plane the faces, then sand
>>down until I'm using the finest paper. But I'm not sure about the
>>cross-cut ends, if its even possible to do this on those two sides, or
>>on any side if its cut out of a knot.
>>
>>Any suggestions welcomed.


you started with a chainsaw? so it's green wood?

I think there's a real danger of the end grain grabbing and damaging the
planer, but I haven't tried it. Of course we don't know the size of the
cube.

Belt sander??
Wilson

"Tom" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >Dean wrote:
>
> >Starting from a cube cut with a chainsaw (so its rough), supposing I
> >wanted plane, sand and polish the 6 sides to make a beautiful
> >ornamental piece, tha shows the patterns well inside the wood. Just
> >something to look at, that's all. I'd appreciate a few tips on how
> >best to go about this. I am planning to plane the faces, then sand
> >down until I'm using the finest paper. But I'm not sure about the
> >cross-cut ends, if its even possible to do this on those two sides, or
> >on any side if its cut out of a knot.
> >
> >Any suggestions welcomed.
> >
> >-Dean
> >
> >
> Build a fixture to hold the rough cube, and use a backer piece when
planing
> the end grain? Tom
> Work at your leisure!