Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
wood clarity
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
The clarity of the grain in the planed piece is wonderful, but not so much with the sanded piece.
Any problem with the clarity of this sanded then mineral pigment stained cherry? If there is a clarity problem with stained, sanded wood it is a result of inexperienced sanding.
Re: wood clarity
Hank Knight
That's nice, Bill. No problem with the grain clarity. What is your final sanding grit? Do you use a random orbit sander and finish by hand with the grain or do you sand entirely by hand?
Procedure for a stained surface
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
The hand tool enthusiasts go on about their intimate contact with the wood whilst planing. They have something there. The intimate contact I believe is necessary to achieve a perfect result. But it can be had by hand sanding as well as hand planing. The goal is to study each area of the wood to be finished rather than the whole of it. This scrutiny comes from sanding, or planing, small areas at a time, looking for any lack of perfection.
I might machine sand the first step to remove planer knife burnish and then on to hand sanding- 120, 180 and often 220 for cherry, but stop at 180 for walnut. While sanding I am looking for any defects that will come roaring out when the stain is applied. A dull spot signals torn grain that must be removed, for example. A stubborn spot may get a few passes from a hand scraper, then more sanding.
I cannot successfully stain a hand planed surface. The grain is too open and it sucks up stain to yield a too dark result. Torn grain can blend in with the planed surface and then stain extra dark. Even if I hand plane to start to more rapidly remove some defect or another I always end with hand sanding. I believe the burnish leaves a surface that is just right for the staining I do.
When talking about stained cherry the word "blotchy" usually comes up. Variations in depth of stain resulting from torn grain is indeed blotchy and ugly. But color variation can result from variation in grain orientation that we more charitably call "figure". I strive to enhance figure in cherry while perfectly sanding to avoid blotchy.
For example:
(the figure that appears to be only on the left side is an artifact of light angle)
Such a pretty piece. Glad to see it again.
Re: Procedure for a stained surface
Hank Knight
Thanks, Bill. That is very helpful. It's interesting that you stop at 180 on walnut. Why is that? Because of walnut's open grain?
Re: Procedure for a stained surface
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
It's interesting that you stop at 180 on walnut. Why is that? Because I do not see any improvement after 180 in the result.
Re: Nakashima used a tung oil finish
Jack Dover
Not always though. I had a privilege to tour Nakashima's estate a few years ago, and Mira Nakashima specifically mentioned that workshop tried quite a number of finishes before settling on polymerized tung oil, and that they still somewhat puzzled about which finish was used for a piece brought back for restoration. She told a story about a set of chairs, where everyone in the shop was sure were walnut, but they actually were stained poplar. The chairs were one of the earliest pieces when Mr. Nakashima couldn't afford any good wood (and it's a whole different story), but they did a very exceptional stain and finish job back then, I guess.
So the advice to bring it back to the shop for restoration is the best advice in this whole thread, I think.
Polymerized Tung Oil
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey
Sounds like Waterlox. Having been to the studio and looked at in-process items, I wouldn't be surprised if Waterlox red-can sealer was being used.
Re: Polymerized Tung Oil
Jack Dover
It's totally possible. I couldn't read labels on cans, but labels was brown and white, so it could have been a Truetone. I remember being somewhat surprised they weren't using some secret formula.