Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Finishing advice?

  1. #1
    Registered User belbein's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    2,283
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Finishing advice?

    All of the years I've done home carpentry and boatbuilding and so forth, I've always hated "finishing." I am not a patient guy. I find this excruciating. Which is why I just don't know how to do it. Unfortunately, now that the Saga is pretty put together, here I am, unable to avoid it.

    So far, what I've done is scrape (OMG it's a miracle!), then sand with 80, then 100, then 220 grit, then 220 wet. Between sessions, I dampened the wood to "raise the grain." (Does this really do anything?) So here are some probably very stupid questions:

    1. Right now the thing feels like glass. Am I still going to progress through 320, 400, 600, 800 and 1,000,000 grit?

    2. How do you know when you're done sanding with a particular grit? Is it just when it all feels equally smooth, or when the force is with me, or when the Sanding Angels sing, or when I feel sick of the whole process?

    3. Once I'm "done" (which I guess means that I run out of grades of sandpaper), do I use sanding sealer prior to dye?

    4. I have to mix my own dye ... a little bit of a surprise. Since I'd like to mix just one batch to make sure I don't have inconsistent lots, can someone tell me about how much (volume) I need for the whole instrument? I mean, like how many OZ total.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    15,863

    Default Re: Finishing advice?

    You might be done sanding. 220 grit is fine enough for wood (sanding beyond 220 grit is usually a waste of time in terms of the appearance of the finish), and if you raised the grain between each grit(!), you should have found any left-over scratched from earlier grits. That, BTW, is when you're done with a sandpaper grit, when all the scratches from the earlier grit are gone.
    There are various methods of staining (dying) the wood, some done on bare wood, some done over a sealer, and depending on the method(s) your going to use, the amount of dye needed could be more or less, but roughly how much you'll need is impossible to say. So mix at least a quart and hope to have enough for a few scraps (we practice on sanded scraps to get our processes down) and the instrument itself.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    75

    Default Re: Finishing advice?

    I guess it's all about personal taste. I sometimes leave a scratch or two on my mandolin kits. I also don't care much for a perfect shellac finish. I like a less shiny finish and some evidence that the mandolin was put together by hand tools. I sand the shellac with 000 steel wool to make it less shiny and somewhat scratchy.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •