walnut wood,,

[jeff oldham]

i have tried my best to sand walnut wood to give it a good finish but it seems reguardless of what I do and the different grits of sandpaper I use,,,part of it is still on the rough side and I cant get it out,,i don't have this problem with any other woods except walnut,,,but I see other pieces made out of walnut and its perfect,,,,can anyone give me some tips,,lol

[Mel Fulks]

As a start ,have you tried sponging then useing a new piece of fine sandpaper to remove the "whiskers"?

[jeff oldham]

don't know what sponging is,,,,

[Brett Luna]

Could you take some clear pictures of a problem area to show us what you mean?

[Mel Fulks]

Jeff, I apologize ; it may not be relevant to lathe work. I need to look at forum title before posting. Applies to sanding "with the grain".

[David M Peters]

A second vote for some pictures. I personally have never found Walnut to be much different from other woods. Also mention if you are doing spindle or face work.

[jeff oldham]

Spindle work

[John K Jordan]

A lot of guess work here since you don't give much to go on. Is this a spindle or a face turning?

Maybe you could explain better which part of the piece is "on the rough side".
Did it feel rough before you started sanding?
Is it splintery rough or fuzzy rough?

If a face turning, is the rough part on the end grain?
Is it tearout? If so, sharpen and hone tools, make another pass with a very light cut. (As you approach the final cut, make every cut a practice cut.)
Shear scraping can work wonders.
A coat (or two) of sander sealer (lacquer or shellac) can work wonders. Let dry before sanding or shear scraping.

Is it figured wood, perhaps with twisted grain? If the end grain turns back against the rotation AND you are sanding while rotating the work, then try rotating in reverse (if your lathe will go in reverse) Sanding with the lathe off is good here.

Note: I do most of my sanding by hand with the lathe off. I sand primarily with the grain (or with the figure, which might be different).

Other things:
- Wet sanding can work wonders. I might sand with oil if oil will be compatible with the final finish. Again, sanding with the lathe off is best.
- Wet sanding with water can work.
- I often use small hand scrapers rather than sandpaper. Sometimes it works better, sometimes worse. Small, sharp curved hand scrapers used with the grain with the lathe off can work wonders.

Again, a lot of guess work. A picture or two of the piece and showing where the problem is could go a long way. Or just try all the guesses.

JKJ

[jeff oldham]

some pictures350319

[David M Peters]

Yeah that Walnut is not cooperating, is it. But neither is the lighter wood glued on top! It has some tearout too just not as much.

Are you using a bowl gouge for this piece? If so I'll give out the usual advice of putting a fresh edge on your gouge and to take a light, continuous pass to smooth out the surface. Mind the angle at which you present the tool such that it's always engaged and not getting "kicked out" by the tougher end grain. And some light shear scraping with the gouge or a scraper is a nice finishing step to in order to smooth out any subtle hills/valleys left by the gouge.

My current goal on facework pieces is to start sanding @ 120, if I have to dip into the 80 grit paper my tool work was shoddy. Over time I hope for that starting grit to go higher!

[William Bachtel]

Sometimes ones is going at to slow an RPM. Always be safe. I wood turn that piece at around 1200. Also turning clubs really help.

[John Keeton]

It would appear that the maple(?) is glued to the walnut with end grain joints, and perhaps two separate pieces of walnut also joined with an end grain joint. Unless there are recesses and tenons, I would be concerned about the strength of those joints. As to the tear out, my bet goes to not enough speed, a dull tool, improper angle of presentation and cutting in the wrong direction. One must cut downhill on the grain to achieve the best cut. Given your shape, that may mean cutting from different directions depending on the portion being cut.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I see a big split in the piece, also scrapers don’t cut, they tear the wood, and Walnut is a softer hardwood IMO not suited for using scrapers on, as that is what it looks like to me, or a gouge used as a scraper same problem.

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