Oak Sanding Disaster

[brian c miller]

Guys,

I ma not sure what happened but I think that the sanding grit has stained the pore of the oak. I used a dark gray 100 grit pad on a random orbit sander and now I have a gray tint to the wood pores.

I tried compressed air, H20, and Alcohol but the tint is still there...


Any ideas?

[brian c miller]

232149

Here's a close up of what I am talking about.

[HANK METZ]

I think I'd try raising the grain in a small test area and sand again, only try using a different type of paper like aluminum oxide. If the stains persist, you may have ferrous metal contamination of the oak wood.

- Beachside Hank
Do not use remaining fingers as push sticks.

[ian maybury]

Re. the above. A really close look under a magnifier might show up if it's staining or trapped particles. If particles then maybe a more powerful vacuum than normal might shift enough air to move them. Maybe even a compressed air nozzle, although that might drive particles into the pores. If it's staining - wonder if there is a chemical means of neutralising the colour change?

[Peter Kuhlman]

So this was not sand paper but one of those abrasive pads? I have never had this happen with any type sand paper. All the sanding pads that I have seen are not designed for machine usage but maybe you have something different. I wonder if that is a result of heat degrading the pad and filling the pores?

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Grab an eye loop (or similar) to see if those are particles or stains. if particles, try a dry scrub brush and a strong vacuum. If the wood is stained, I guess you need to deal with the stain :-(

[brian c miller]

I'll check when I get home tonight... I used a Gator Brand Zirconium Oxide disc from Lowes. I try to get the Norton 3x but I guess Lowes switched to this Gator brand.

http://www.gatorfinishing.com/products/17/

If it's is staining is there a product to "bleach" the wood back to it's original colour?

[Bill McDermott]

Thinking of how to "Cover Up" without changing your dimensions....

Can you fill the pores and cover the spots with wood filler?
Can you stain the entire piece darker, to soften the contrast?
Can you do both?

[George Gyulatyan]

Not a fan of those Gators. They dull quickly, clock quickly and are not really that effective.

It's most likely the grit. They're the same color, and the grit on those pads and sandpaper does tend to fall off rather easily.

[Peter Quinn]

I'd try a wire brush if it's grit in pores, oxacylic acid if it's stained.

[ray hampton]

if you fill the pores, will the sanding dust that are in the pores now disappear ?

[Van Huskey]

Curious what the findings were here, stain or dust...

[Myk Rian]

It's the grit.
Can you plane the stock a skosh? If not, start over.
Wet/dry paper will do it also.

[Michael Peet]

It's the grit.
Can you plane the stock a skosh? If not, start over.
Wet/dry paper will do it also.

I agree that planing might be the best option. That trapped grit will do a number on your blade(s) too.

Mike

[brian c miller]

I am thinking that it's a little bit of both clogged pores and some light staining... I won't know for sure about the stain until I get the pores cleared a little bit.

I just have a DW735 and the panel is about 4" too wide to go through the planner. No more trips through the planner unless rip it back in 2 parts and book match it again.

I am going the wire brush route this weekend, then air and make a decision, on weather to rip & plan again.


I am swearing off the "gator pads" in the future tho... it would have been lots easier to make a trip to the real tool store.




BCM

[Prashun Patel]

What am I missing?

Why don't you just sand it (whatever it is) out with a different brand of 100grit? Also, I imagine you're not going to stop @ 100. keep working up in grits and see if the coloring goes away. My guess is it's grit that's been ground into the pores. Sanding will level the top layer of pores and open them up so the grit can escape.

You also haven't mentioned whether you plan to dye/stain this. If yr staining it dark, it really won't matter in the end.

I wouldn't resort to planing/bleaching/wire brushing until you've determined that additional sanding doesn't solve the problem.

Last, how hard were you pressing with yr ROS? It took me a long time to learn to let the paper - not the pressure - do the work. I also try to remember the advice: "use sandpaper like someone else is paying for it". Working the same paper too long makes me push harder, and leads to all kinds of probs for the piece and the ROS.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I'd try a card scraper before too much wire brushing. They can work wonders!

[Matt McColley]

If you have a belt sander, I'll bet that sanding it again with a 100 grit belt would scour the dark grit out of the troughs in the course grain of the oak. If you don't have a belt sander available o you, try hand sanding with 80 or 100 grit using a hard rubber sanding block.....sanding only with the grain.

[Jacob Reverb]

belt sander

http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/yikes.gifhttp://www.advrider.com/forums/images/smilies/GRIM2A.gif

[brian c miller]

I don't actually own a belt sander... I think I'll got go back to 80 grit Norton 3x and see if it will work it self out.

BCM

[Tru Thach]

I can't tell if you used H20 first or not. If you did, then the water has mineral which caused the black spots.
Otherwise, if you use distilled water, then it should be clean w/o any black spots. I know because I use distilled water to
raise white oak and someone use just tap water and sure enough, there were black spots in his white oak.