# Can wood be sanded too well?



## cdarney (Mar 27, 2008)

I'm doing a project with tiger maple. I used a test piece of wood with some Zinsser's shellac and it looked very good. When I applied it to the project, though, the grain doesn't stand out as well. The only difference I could imagine is that I didn't sand the test piece as well. On the project I sanded down to 220...lots. If this is the case, could I "rough up" the project with some 150 or 100 grit then apply more shellac? I would then sand with 220 between coats.

Thanks...Chuck


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Hi Chuck,

Yes, you can sand wood to much and burnish the surface which in turn will not take finishes quite as well and also lose some of the look of the grain. Your plan to correct the finish may work, but the only sure way to find out is to again use the test piece and run it thru your outline. Sanding between coats is perfectly acceptable, but over sanding before your finish can sometimes be a problem.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Bob said:


> Hi Chuck,
> 
> Yes, you can sand wood to much and burnish the surface which in turn will not take finishes quite as well and also lose some of the look of the grain. Your plan to correct the finish may work, but the only sure way to find out is to again use the test piece and run it thru your outline. Sanding between coats is perfectly acceptable, but over sanding before your finish can sometimes be a problem.


Bob,

Have you seen any FAQ / PDF's sanding guidelines for different combinations of wood and stains / dyes / finish coat? I'm guessing that some wood is more sensitive to burnishing or ??anything else?? that would affect the finishing process.


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## cdarney (Mar 27, 2008)

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I ended up sanding down to 100 grit then lightly with 150 and 220. It helped quite a bit. I never did get quite the look I wanted but I'll know better next time. Since I'm pretty new at this, here are my lessons learned:

1. Don't oversand!
2. It's not as easy to finish work when the humidity is running at 98%.
3. Keep the finish out of the holes drilled for the shelf support - especially if you can't get a drill in the area to clean them out.
4. Mirrors DON'T like screws.
5. Make the rabbets wider if there's room.

Here's the result (sans large glass shelves). The case is ply wrapped and edged in tiger maple. The door is solid tiger maple with mirror on both sides. The splines are walnut. The entire case is 30 1/2" wide by 35 1/2" tall. The side shelves are 6" with a mirror back.

Thanks again...Chuck


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Hi Chuck,

All's well that ends well and I would say from the looks of your pictures, all has ended very well. 

Great project and it sounds like you learned a lot from it as an added bonus.


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

I would not sand wood much beyond 360 grit. Glass is smooth, and polish or paint peel off without properly adhering to the surface.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Chuck,

I don't know what look you were looking for but when I recently finished a cutting board with very dilute oil-base polyurethane varnish it really brought out the yellow orange in the wood and darkened the stripes. You might say "It put the tiger in tigerwood!"  Even clear oil finishes are known for bringing out the darkness in wood.




cdarney said:


> I'm doing a project with tiger maple. I used a test piece of wood with some Zinsser's shellac and it looked very good. When I applied it to the project, though, the grain doesn't stand out as well. The only difference I could imagine is that I didn't sand the test piece as well. On the project I sanded down to 220...lots. If this is the case, could I "rough up" the project with some 150 or 100 grit then apply more shellac? I would then sand with 220 between coats.
> 
> Thanks...Chuck


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## Old_Chipper (Mar 30, 2009)

That's all good advice. I recently was in the middle of a cabinet job, run out of 220, didn't want to stop and go to the city. I used 400 grit. Every door I used 400 on had to be redone. They were 5 shades lighter than the rest. Maple is very dense, the 400 sealed the pores right up. But they were smooth as glass. Next time try Ploy Wipe. Hard to mess it up. On larger jobs I like to shoot them with Lacquer.
Harry


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

BigJimAK said:


> Bob,
> 
> Have you seen any FAQ / PDF's sanding guidelines for different combinations of wood and stains / dyes / finish coat? I'm guessing that some wood is more sensitive to burnishing or ??anything else?? that would affect the finishing process.


I've been trying to locate the same thing my self.


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

I have not ran up on any, but have not really been looking either. If I locate any, I will post a link for us.


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

I once polyurethaned an ebony fingerboard. It peeled off. I always oil ebony now.


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Good to know. I was actually planning on making something small out of ebony and possibly poly coating it as well. Good to know this before I actually tried it LOL ! 
Thanks!


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