Rough sides

[Rick Prosser]

Turning some white cedar from a tree that has been down a while. The end grain is very rough on the bowl. I have tried sharp tools, sanding sealer, and shear scrape, but cannot get a smooth finish. What is the best way to approach this type of problem - soft wood with rough end grain. Is it too far gone to use? The photo is before the sanding sealer, but the sealer did not help a lot. I have not tried heavy sanding yet.

[David Christopher]

Rick, use some coarse sandpaper and work your way to the fine.......sandpaper is a tool also

Don't be skeeerd to use it

[Benjamin Dahl]

Rick, I'll second what David says.

[Roger Wilson]

What is the best way to approach this type of problem - soft wood with rough end grain.

Bill Grumbine demos some cuts on bowls to handle tear out in his Bowl Basics video.

Also I second some power sanding using 80 grit sandpaper. As Grumbine says 80 grit sandpaper is a tool.

[Rick Prosser]

Thanks - I will try the 80 grit. I just wanted to be sure I had done things correctly before I got to sanding.

[William Bachtel]

When you use that sandpaper, make sure it is new and sharp, and don't press real hard on the wood.

[Allen Schmid]

Rick,
Great question and photo, too. We all have had trouble with just that; end grain issues! I know from experience that sometimes it is the wood and other times it's just my technique/tools. So let us know how the 80 grit works for you..."been there done that" type of thing. It should work out fine.
Allen

[Barry Stratton]

Don't be shy....60 grit works too:D...very quickly:rolleyes:

[Jeff Nicol]

Rick, The grain of cedar like that is very soft in between much harder of the early and late wood during each growing season. It acts much like some of the tamarack I turn around here. You should be able to get a cleaner cut than that but the secret is to take as fine and small a cut you can as many times as it takes. If you take too much wood the soft wood tears and the hard grain bounces. What I do is get the best cut I can with a 1/4" standard grind bowl gouge and then soak the bowl with shellac that is cut real thin. When the shellac dries in 30 min I will go back and make the same cut and do this untill there is no more tear out. The thinned out shellac soaks in fast and drys fast and will not hurt later when putting on your final finish. I learned this like you are that some woods just take a lot more TLC to get a good finish.

Jeff