Sanding multiple species?

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I've made a cool chessboard (to be a tabletop) out of mesquite and some dark mystery wood I picked up at Woodcraft a year or more ago. I've forgotten what it is, and so have they. Looks kinda like cocobolo, but the grain is a bit more 'stringy' and just purplish/brown/black. It's not Wenge. Whatever it is, it's harder than the mesquite...so when I put the sander on it I get little 'wavies' where I'm cutting the mesquite but not the other stuff. I'm not sure they'll show up with a finish, but I can definitely feel them (and it irritates me). I'm sure I've read about this somewhere...but since I seriously try to avoid mixing species I probably didn't file it away as 'useful' info. But since a chessboard kinda has to be different species, here I am...stumped.

Lil' help? :confused:

KC

[Dan Stuewe]

I'll just throw this out...

scrape?

Good luck, I'm sure it will be stunning when you're done.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

KC, I think I would try putting the keenest edge possible on a card scraper and smooth it with that. Many time I have found that even really hard wood would scrape smooth. Tales a while but that is all I know to try.

[Richard Allen]

Sounds like kingwood.

A scraper, high angle plane, a W - I - D - E planer.

Start sanding at 220

You could also try a 1/2 sheet finish sander or a sheet of sandpaper on a 4" x 8" hard cork block BTW I saw the perfect large cork block at a beauty supply store.

Thanks

[David Rose]

A plane is my first thought, but since grain is probably going everywhere that would probably rule out its use for me. How about a very hard backed piece of sandpaper hand propelled? A backer that doesn't give has to cut the high points first, doesn't it? Try a block of wood.

Since gun stocks are fairly small objects to sand but highly visible, I use pieces of steel milled flat to back sandpaper. On the flats you can sight down a sanded/finished surface and see no ripples or irregularities.

David

[Jim Becker]

A plane is my first thought, but since grain is probably going everywhere that would probably rule out its use for me. How about a very hard backed piece of sandpaper hand propelled? A backer that doesn't give has to cut the high points first, doesn't it? Try a block of wood.

What David wrote was my first reaction...I read somewhere awhile back that soft backing exacerbates the problem you are experiencing. Sanding with a hard-back keeps the paper flat and out of the soft spots. I suspect that with only enough pressure to do the job will get you close and the scraper is the way to go to finish things off. At least that is what I would do.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Thanks for the replies. I feared the solution might involve hand work. :(

Mystery wood is not Kingwood, either. It was something very foreign sounding. I may never know.

KC

[Tom Sweeney]

Hey KC,
David Marks did a nice chessboard on his program. He used wenge & quilted maple veneered to plywood. To finish his he hand scraped it with a regular scraper & then oddly enough went over that with 320 grit sandpaper on a shop made hardwood sanding block.

A little exercise but it will probably produce the finish that you want.

I'm not an expert woodworker but I watch them on TV :rolleyes:

[Steve Jenkins]

I expect that you can level it with a belt sander (hand type). I would belt sand it to 150 or 180 then not use an orbital that has a felt pad. It is too soft and will conform to irregularities and cause them with woods of different hardness. A wooden block with a thin piece of cork attached works well for hand sanding. It won't take much if you belt sand fine enough. Or there is always the scraper method. Steve

[Bruce Page]

KC, I’ve run into the same problem sanding dissimilar metals. A flat metal or hardwood block and some PSA backed sandpaper will knock down the high spots quickly.